Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 152

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

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WILLIAM T. ELLIOTT (deceased), born in Connecticut in 1810, through both parents being descended from Scotch and English ancestry; was taken by his parents to Pennsylvania in 1812, and thence to New York, where he grew up. In 1834 he came to Aurora, Ill., where he purchased land from the Government and be- came a successful farmer. In 1835 he married Rebecca. daughter of Elijah Pierce, who came from the East and settled at Montgomery, Kane County, three years previous. This was the first marriage in Kane County, and their oldest born was the first white child born in the county. They began housekeeping in a log structure on Fox River, and here their lives were passed. The Elliott farm is now a part of Aurora. Here Mr. Elliott died in 1894, aged 84, and Mrs. Elliott in 1900, at the age of 82.

DE GOY B. ELLIS, lawyer, Elgin, Ill., born in Blaine, Boone County, Ill., Nov. 27, 1877, son of W. B. and Sophia ( Bowman) Ellis, was reared on a farm and educated at the Belvidere High School and at Dixon College, Dixon, grad- uating from the latter in the class of 1897 with

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

the degrees of B. O. and B. S .; two years later graduated from the Illinois College of Law, and in October of same year opened an office in Elgin, where he is engaged in professional labor. In 1903 he was elected City Attorney by a plurality of 588 votes. He is a director of the Fraternal Reserve Life Association, with headquarters at Knoxville; is also giving spe- cial attention to insurance and corporate law. Mr. Ellis belongs to the Greek letter fraternity Phi Alpha Beta, the Court of Honor, and the Elgin City Club, and one or two other organiza- tions.

STEPHEN R. ELLITHORPE, pioneer farmer, Burlington Township, Kane County, born at Sheldon, Vt., April 16, 1819; came west, driving across the country with team and wagon, arriv- ing in Burlington Township in 1841, where he took up a quarter section of land; conducted his farm in Burlington Township until the time of his death, Jan. 4, 1902. He was married in 1840 to Miss Emily C. Smith, of Canada, who died Nov. 13, 1898

EDWARD S. ENO.

EDWARD S. ENO, Superintendent Borden Condensed Milk Company, Elgin, Ill., was born in Honesdale, Penn., May 26, 1848, received his education in the public schools, and in 1868

was clerk in a hardware store. The following year he entered the employ of the Borden Con- densed Milk Company, at Brewster, N. Y., coming to Elgin in 1870. In 1881 he was appointed Superintendent of the factory, and is still serving in that capacity. Mr. Eno is a Republican. He was a member of the old Volunteer Fire Department for eight years, and, at the close of that service, held the position of Assistant Fire Marshal. He served one term on the Board of Education and one term in the City Council. While a member of the Council he was Chairman of the Special Committee on Water-Works, and it was largely through the efforts of this committee that the present sys- tem of water-works was installed-the contract for the same being let by this committee at that time. He also served on the Board of Water Commissioners for eight years; at the present time is acting as one of the Fire and Police Commissioners of the city of Elgin; is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Northern Illinois Hospital for the Insane.

WILLIAM H. ERVIN, farmer, Dundee Town- ship, Kane County, Ill., was born in Armstrong County, Penn., Aug. 22, 1852, son of John and Cornelia (Woodruff) Ervin, and reared in his native State; was taken by his parents into Ohio in 1860, and received his educational train- ing in the schools of these two States. In early manhood he was employed in the iron works at Martin's Ferry. In 1875 he came to Illinois, and three years later settled on the farm where he now resides, three and a half miles north- west of the village of Dundee, where he has been largely engaged in dairy-farming and bee culture. Fraternally he has wide connections, being a Mason and Odd Fellow, Modern Wood- man, and a Knight of the Maccabees. In 1878 he married Miss Margaret Crichton, daughter of John Crichton, one of the pioneer settlers of Dundee Township.

WILLIAM C. ESTEE, bank cashier, Aurora, Kane County, Ill., was born at Le Roy, Genesee County, N. Y., June 6, 1855; educated in the public schools and Le Roy Academy; came to Aurora in January, 1878, as bookkeeper for the Second National Bank (now known as the Old Second National Bank). He has been cashier of the Second National Bank for nine years ( 1879-88) and of the Merchants' National Bank for sixteen years.

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

HON. HENRY H. EVANS, Aurora, statesman and financier, was born March 9, 1836, in To- ronto, Canada, a son of Griffith and Elizabeth Evans, both natives of Harrisburg, Penn., and was brought by his parents to Aurora, Ill., in June, 1841, where his father had secured em- ployment as a millwright. Mr. Evans began

HENRY HL. EVANS.

his business career when quite young by pur- chasing the Fitch House, then known as Aurora's leading hotel, and still doing business under the name of Hotel Evans. He remained in this business until he was elected to the lower branch of the State Legislature in 1876, where he served one term. In 1880 he was chosen a member of the State Senate, to which he has been continuously re-elected to the present time, and for which he was renominated May 4, 1904. Since 1876 he has been engaged in various business enterprises, and has been very successful in real-estate deals. He was one of the organizers and for some years the President and Manager of the Aurora Street Car lines, built the Aurora, Otsego & Yorkville Electric Railway, and organized Riverview Park, the chief park of Aurora, and one of great popularity. Mr. Evans built the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern line from Aurora to Joliet, and is President of the Interstate Independent Tele-

phone and Telegraph Company, Vice-President and Director of the German-American National Bank, and a Director of the Aurora Silver- Plating Company. For three and a half years he served in the Civil War as a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, and was Colonel on the staffs of Governors Cullom, Hamilton, Oglesby and Fifer. He was a member of the Aurora City Council when first elected to the Legislature. In 1858 he married Miss Alice M. Rhodes, daughter of A. C. Rhodes, of Aurora, but a native of England. She died in Aurora Oct. 6, 1897. One son, Arthur R. Evans, is in the telephone business with his father.

JOHN D. EVANS, farmer and stock-breeder. Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, Ill., born in Sugar Grove, Oct. 25, 1865, son of Isaac Evans, one of the pioneer settlers of the town; was brought up under the parental roof. and received his education in the public schools and the Sugar Grove Normal and Industrial Insti- tute. For a time he taught school a portion of each year, and then turned his attention to farming and stock-raising, in which he has been quite successful. Taking an active part in poli- tics, Mr. Evans soon became noted as one of the more prominent young Republicans of the county, who cared more to help his party and aid his friends than he did for office for him- self. Locally he has filled several positions, and has been much interested in the construction of better school houses in Sugar Grove Town- ship. Mr. Evans belongs to the Order of Elks, the Modern Woodmen, the Royal Neighbors, and the Yeomen of America. In 1896 he married Miss Nellie M., daughter of William West, of Sugar Grove.

ISAAC EVANS, pioneer farmer, Sugar Grove, Ill., was born in Caermarthenshire, South Wales, in 1825; grew up in his native country and was trained to farming; came to the United States in 1856, and first lived in Iowa for a year; later came to Illinois and established his home in the town of Squaw Grove, DeKalb County, and afterwards removed to the farm where he now resides in Sugar Grove Township. At the present time (1903) Mr. and Mrs. Evans have lived in Sugar Grove Township forty-one years. In 1856 Mr. Evans was married to Miss Hannah Walters, and their living children are David T., Thomas W., Annie E. and John D.

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

THOMAS B. EVANS, farmer and stock-raiser, Geneva Township, Kane County, born in Chester County, Penn., Oct. 30, 1839; reared and edu- cated in his native State; trained to farming, and followed that occupation in Pennsylvania until 1870, when he came to Illinois; purchased a farm near Geneva in 1878, where he has since resided, giving special attention to breeding Chester White hogs and Oxford Down sheep. He was married in 1865 to Miss Mary Ann Todd, daughter of John Todd, of Mochlan, Chester County, Penn., one of the founders of the stock yards at Philadelphia.

JACOB EYE, merchant, Aurora, Ill., was born in the city where he now resides, Feb. 21, 1857, son of Joseph Eye, who came to Aurora in 1852 from Jackson, Mich., but was born in Hesse- Darmstadt, Germany. The elder Eye was one of the early German residents of Aurora, and was still living in 1903 at the age of eighty- three years. The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in Aurora, was educated in the public schools and learned the tinner's trade. His first business venture was in the tinware trade; in 1883 he added to this a stock of hardware, and has since been engaged in this line of business, the present commercial house of which he is the proprietor being the suc- cessor of the little tin-shop which he started in his early manhood. While devoting the larger portion of his time to merchandising, Mr. Eye has also been identified with other enterprises in Aurora and elsewhere. He was married in 1884 to Miss Mary Reising, daughter of Joseph Reising, who died in 1902.

JOHN FARRELL (deceased), pioneer farmer of Dundee Township, Kane County, Ill., born in Ireland in 1803; came to the United States in boyhood, locating with the first settlers in Dundee Township in 1837, and became one of the largest land owners in the township, his estate, at the time of his death in 1879, em- bracing about 900 acres. He was an excellent type of the hardy, courageous pioneer, as well as an enterprising and sagacious business man. He married Catherine Donovan, who died in 1865, and their children were: Jeremiah (de- ceased), John (deceased), Timothy, Dennis and William.

WILLIAM FARRELL, farmer and stock. raiser, Dundee Township, Kane County, 111.,

born in the township where he now resides, April 12, 1840, son of John and Catherine ( Donovan) Farrell; educated in the pioneer schools and located in 1868 on the farm which he now owns, and where he resides; has been Road Commissioner for twenty years, besides holding other township offices; married, in 1868, Catherine McCartney, who died in 1880, leaving four living children, viz .: Catherine, J. W., W. A. and E. C.

CHARLES F. FIELD.

CHARLES F. FIELD, banker, Geneva, Ill .. born at Ellisburg. Jefferson County, N. Y., June 20, 1853; received his early education in the schools of his native town, which he left in 1867, when he accompanied his parents to Ba tavia, 111., where he attended school two years and then spent six months on a farm. He was engaged in the express business for one year, and when he was nineteen years of age estab- lished himelf in dairy farming, an occupation he followed for nineteen years. In the fall of 1889, in company with W. H. Gaunt, he estab- lished the Bank of Geneva, of which he took the entire management. In 1901 he purchased his partner's interest in the bank, and is still engaged in its management. He is also inter- ested in fire insurance. Mr. Field has served several terms as City Treasurer of Geneva, and

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

is now the Treasurer of the State Training School for Girls, a well-known state institution, He was married in 1879 to Miss Sarah E. White, of Elburn, Ill., born in Jefferson County, N. Y. Mr. Field is a public-spirited citizen, and has served three years as a member of the Geneva Board of Education.

DEAN FERSON (deceased ), pioneer farmer, St. Charles, Ill., born at Bradford, N. H .. April 25, 1810; came to Chicago in 1833 and located on a claim near St. Charles, Kane County, in May, 1834, where he resided until his death, and his estate is still in the possession of his tam- ily. In political sentiment he was a vigilant Abolitionist during the ante-bellum period, and later a stanch Republican. Mr. Ferson was married in September, 1836, to Prudence E. Ward, theirs being one of the first marriage ceremonies performed in Kane County. They were the parents of eight children, five of whom are living-Abbie Ferson, Mrs. Maria Wheeler, Kirk, Sampson V. and Frank. Mr. Ferson died May 31, 1892, his wife surviving him until Nov. 28, 1902.

JOHN F. FIERKE, manufacturer, Dundee, Ill., was born in Oelsdorf, Pomerania, Germany, Jan. 25, 1860, and was brought to this country by his parents when about one year old. They settled in Dundee, Ill., where young John F. was reared to manhood, and educated in the German Lutheran parochial school. He left school to enter the employ of the Illinois Iron and Bolt Company as assistant shipping clerk, six weeks later becoming shipping clerk. In January, 1883, he was transferred to the general offices of the company, where he was employed in various capacities until 1898, when he was made General Superintendent. Two years later he was promoted to the office of General Man- ager of the business, which position he is still filling. For many years he has been a director of the corporation, and his connection with the company covers a period of twenty-six years, during which he has done much to promote its welfare. He began his business life earning seventy-five cents a day, and is now at the head of a great corporation with a large plant, of which he is one of the principal owners. In October, 1883, Mr. Fierke was married to Miss Augusta Sternberg, daughter of Carl Sternberg, of Dundee.

J. MOULTON FISH (retired), Aurora, Ill., born in Danby, Vt., May 27, 1816, son of John and Abigail ( Moulton) Fish, was reared in his native State, where he received a common- school education. Being a member of a large family he was thrown upon his own resources at an early age, and from that time was vari- ously employed, at times working on a farm or holding a clerkship in a store, as opportunity offered. For nine years he was connected with a general store in Danby, and while thus em- ployed had a wide range of experience in the work of buying, selling, manufacturing, etc. When twenty-four years of age he received from the Vermont Legislature an appointment as a Justice of the Peace, filling the position accept- ably for several terms. During his residence in Danby he also served for a time as Deputy Sheriff. In 1842 he engaged in the marble business in that place, which he conducted suc- cessfully for a number of years. About the same time he became interested in the Western Vermont Railroad, the charter for which he had been instrumental in securing from the Vermont Legislature after a spirited contest. extending over two years. While thus employed he also succeeded in obtaining a charter for a bank at Danby. The railroad was built in due time, but, being insufficiently financed, Mr. Fish suffered a heavy loss in consequence of the tail- ure of the company. Having removed to But- falo. N. Y., about 1853, he there engaged in the lumber business as a member of the firm of Mann, Vail & Co., in which he continued some six years. In the meantime, having made a trip to Illinois, he purchased a farm near Lockport, in Will County, and in 1859 removed to that place, where he remained about seven years. While there, in addition to looking after a couple of farms, he was also engaged in the livery business and, for a time, in settling up the affairs of John Arnold, who had been a well-known dealer in Yankee notions through- out the West. He also served for some time as Deputy Sheriff of Will County and as Mar- shal of the town of Lockport. In 1865 Mr. Fish removed to Aurora, and for several years gave his attention to farming and the buying and selling of real estate, especially farm lands, still later locating on a fine farm in Kaneville Township, where he continued to reside eleven years. For a part of this time he was quite successfully engaged in the business of dairy

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farming. During the second year of his resi- dence in Kaneville he was chosen a Justice of the Peace for the township, serving in that capacity until he again removed to Aurora, which has been his home for the past thirty years. Since returning to Aurora Mr. Fish has found employment for his activities in looking after the improvement of his property and other interests. Meanwhile he has served ten years as a member of the Board of Alder- men of the city of Aurora, nine years as a Justice of the Peace and nine years as ex-officio member of the Board of Town Auditors. He has also served four years as Deputy Sheriff, and from early manhood has taken an active part in public affairs. While a citizen of Ver- mont he was an important factor in securing the enactment of the prohibition law in that State. Mr. Fish was married in 1845 to Mar. tha B. Smith, of Danby, Vt., who died in Aurora in 1896. In 1898 he married, as his second wife, Mrs. Mary Bauman, then a resident of Brookhaven, Miss., but a native of Vermont and brought up in that State.

ALEXANDER M. FITCHIE, farmer, East Plato, Kane County, Ill., born at Kinloch of Kinloch, Perthshire, Scotland, Feb. 6, 1870, son of James and Grace ( McIntosh) Fitchie; was brought to the United States in his infancy, and grew to manhood in Kane County, Ill., where he obtained his education in the public schools. in Elgin Academy and in Drew's Business Col- Iege. After leaving school he joined his father in farming, and has since followed agricultural pursuits. Mr. Fitchie is a Republican in polit- ical sentiment, and takes an active interest in public affairs. He is Deputy Sheriff for Plato Township, is also Town Clerk, and has held various other public offices.

JAMES FITCHIE (deceased), pioneer farmer, Plato Township, Kane County, Ill., was born in Newtyle, Perthshire, Scotland, June 22, 1828, and grew to years of maturity in his native country, where he also received his educational training in the schools corresponding to the public schools of this country. In his youth he was trained to agricultural pursuits, and in early manhood was foreman on the estate of Sir George Kinloch, of Kinloch, Scotland, re- maining in his employ for more than sixteen years. Coming to the United States in 1870. he first located in McHenry County, Ill., and

from 1873 to 1885 lived in Rutland Township, Kane County. In the latter year he purchased a fine farm at East Plato, where he died Aug. 12, 1897, but his estate still remains in the possession of his family. In all respects Mr. Fitchie was the typical Scotch-American. Thrifty, sagacious and a close observer of human nature, he was a man of strong intel- lectuality and possessed a very retentive mem- ory; kind and congenial in his intercourse with those with whom he was brought in contact, he was well known and highly respected. He was married in 1857 to Miss Grace McIntosh, daughter of Alexander and Margaret (Duer) McIntosh. Mrs. Fitchie, was also a native of Perthshire, Scotland, and for eighteen and a half years resided on the Kinloch estate. Mr. and Mrs. Fitchie's living children are: Mrs. Hugh Templeton, of Chicago; James and Rob- ert. of Chicago; Hugh W .. of Elgin; and Alex- ander M., of Plato. Mrs. Fitchie still resides on the old homestead at East Plato.

ALBERT A. FITTS, M. D., physician, Bata- via, Ill., was born in Ontario, N. Y., April 5, 1853, son of Nelson A. and Maria (Whitney ) Fitts. He is in the eighth generation of his family in America, the emigrant ancestor of the family, Richard Fitts, having come from Fitts- ford, Devonshire, England, in 1635, and settled in Ipswich, Mass. Worcester County, Mass., was the seat of the family for several genera- tions. The earliest history of the family in England reaches back to the twelfth century, and is recorded in Genealogical Records of Sir John Fitts, of Fittstord. Nelson A. Fitts, the father of Dr. Fitts, served in the Union army during the Civil War, and was stationed for some time at Washington, where he was in charge of a detail of the Ninth New York Ar- tillery Regiment, and engaged in working on the fortifications around the city. He was later ordered to the front, and participated in the battle of Cold Harbor and other important and bloody conflicts. He was taken prisoner at Monocacy, Md., but, escaping a few days later, succeeded in reaching the Union lines in an exhausted condition. He was afterward de- tailed on the Engineering Corps, with which he served until July, 1864. He is still living (1903) in Rochester, N. Y. Dr. Fitts secured his early education in the public schools of New York and Georgetown, D. C., and finished his academie education at Marion. In 1875 he

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

began reading medicine with Dr. N. F. Graham, Professor of Surgery in Howard University, and graduated from the Medical Department of that institution in 1878, and has since taken clinical courses in Chicago and New York. In the fall of 1878 he removed to Batavia, and established a practice which has been continu- ous to the present time and has grown to large proportions. It is general in character, but in it the Doctor has displayed a surgical ability that has gained him prominence in high medical circles. He is an occasional contributor to medical publications, and has served as United States Pension Examiner and almshouse physi- cian. He is local surgeon of the Chicago & Northwestern Railway and head of the Batavia Health Department, and has been a member of the West Batavia Board of Education since 1882. In 1881 he married Miss Nellie Whitney, daughter of William M. and Sarah (Clark) Whitney, of Hinsdale, Ill.

T. P. FLANDERS, farmer and stock-raiser, Kaneville. Kane County, was born Aug. 28, 1851, in Hill, N. H., and was brought by his parents to Kane County in 1854, when they settled on the farm on which he now resides, three miles west of the village of Kaneville. His education was acquired in the local schools and in Jennings Seminary at Aurora. Mr. Flanders has won a good standing in the com- munity where his life is passing, and is the Secretary and a large stockholder in the County Line Creamery. He has been on the County Board four years, and for eighteen years a Justice of the Peace; is also School Director and a member of the Republican Central Com- mittee for Kane County. Mr. Flanders belongs to the Kaneville Baptist church, and was mar- ried Aug. 28, 1876, to Miss Grace R. Lee, by whom he has had two children: T. Delos, born Jan. 22, 1879, and Elmer Lee, born Feb. 17, 1882.

MARK W. FLETCHER ( deceased), lawyer and farmer. St. Charles, Ill., born at Thetford, Vt., Oct. 15, 1803; graduated from the law department of Dartmouth College in 1825, and practiced his profession at Batavia, N. Y., until 1835; came to Geneva, Kane County, in the fall of 1835; was the first County Surveyor and first County Clerk of Kane County; purchased 519 acres of land northeast of St. Charles at the Government land sale in 1844, upon which

he located in 1848 and lived there the remainder of his days. On Aug. 25, 1846, he married Harriet Dunham, and of their eight children there are now (1903) living: Charles E., James M. and Hattie L. Mr. Fisher died Feb. 3, 1899.

JOHN E. FORBES, farmer, La Fox, 111., born in Saratoga County, N. Y., Oct. 30, 1840; ac- quired his education in the home district schools, completing his educational training at the Fort Edward Institute, and engaging in farm work with his father during the summer season and teaching school in the winter, until the family came to Kane County, Ill., in Octo- ber, 1869. He then bought a farm two miles southwest of La Fox, where he has carried on farming and dairying until the present time. He has been Town Clerk, Highway Commis- sioner, Assessor, School Trustee, and has proved himself a good citizen. He is a member of the Methodist church at Elburn, of which he has been trustee and steward. Mr. Forbes was married March 31, 1864, to Geraldine, daughter of John H. and Matilda (Cox) Miller, all of the State of New York. James D. and Ann M. ( De Witt) Forbes were also natives of that State, and four of their five children are now living.

JAMES E. FORREST, printer and publisher. Geneva, Ill., born in Galesburg, Ill., Feb. 12. 1844, was educated in the schools of his native city and Chicago: in the former he learned the printer's trade, and helped start the first daily paper in that city. In 1859 he went to Chicago, and was connected with the "Times" under Wilbur F. Story until 1880, when he became assistant foreman of the composing rooms of the "Chicago Globe" during the first year of its existence; after this bought the "Geneva Republican," and published it for two and a half years, when he established a printing office in Chicago. After conducting this eleven years, in 1902 he removed it to Batavia, retain- ing, however, patrons and contracts in Chicago as before. At the present time (1903) he is the publisher of three monthly magazines, and at one time owned and published the "Irriga- tion Age." For seven years he published the "Clinical Review" of Chicago, was the chief promoter of the "Operative Miller," and for seven years printed the "Registered Pharma- cist." When seventeen years of age Mr. Forrest enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-fourth

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 152

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