Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 153

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

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

Illinois Volunteer Infantry, known as the "Board of Trade Regiment," in which he served six months. In 1877 he visited Europe, crossing the Atlantic Ocean on the same vessel with Gen. Grant. In 1867 he married Miss Adelaide, daughter of E. G. Morse, one of the old settlers of Kane County.

JOSEPH M. FRACE (deceased), farmer, El- burn, Kane County, Ill .; born at Pleasant Grove, Morris County, N. J., Feb. 22, 1820, and came of German parentage; educated in the district schools of his native county; came to Illinois in 1852, and in the same year purchased a farm in Kaneville Township, Kane County, which he conducted until 1894, when he retired from active business life and removed to the village of Elburn, where he resided until his death, April 28, 1902. On Oct. 29, 1857, he was married to Sarah Voorhees, of Pleasant Grove, N. J. Mr. Frace followed diversified farming and was a very successful business manager. His method of holding his grain and other farm produce, and disposing of them at a time when the markets assured the best returns, was one of the principal sources of his success as a business man and property owner.

LINCOLN B. FRAZIER, newspaper publisher, Aurora, Ill., born in the city where he now resides, Oct. 3, 1870, and educated in the West Aurora High School and Lawrenceville. Acad- emy, Lawrenceville, N. J. From 1889 to 1902 he was President and Treasurer of the well- known carriage manufacturing plant of W. S. Frazier & Co. at Aurora, being at the same time one of the owners of "The Aurora News," of which he became manager in 1902, and to which he has since devoted the greater part of his attention. At the present time (1904) he is President of the Aurora Daily News Company and one of the Directors in the firm of W. S. Frazier & Co .; is also a member of the Aurora Board of Fire and Police Commissioners. He was married in 1897 to Miss Bertha M. Plumb, of Streator, Ill.

WALTER S. FRAZIER, retired manufac- turer, Aurora, Ill., born at Tully, Onondaga County, N. Y., Aug. 31, 1835, was educated at Homer and Pompey Hill Academies, New York. and trained to merchandising at Syracuse, N. Y. He came to Chicago in 1857, and soon after- wards entered the office of the City Comp-

troller, where he was Chief Clerk for five years; later was Clerk of Special Assessments in Chicago, and in 1865 was Clerk of the Illinois House of Representatives. From 1866 to 1870 he lived on a farm near Batavia, Ill., and in the latter year removed to Aurora, where he soon became prominent in general business affairs. While breeding and training trotting horses, he invented the Frazier road cart, which has since made his name familiar throughout the country. In 1880 he began manufacturing these carts, and thus established an industry which has since grown to large proportions, and the establishment with which he is connected at the present time (1903) is one of the most widely known manufactories of road vehicles in the country. His sons have succeeded to the management of the business, Mr. Frazier having retired on account of ill-health. In 1891 Mr. Frazier purchased the "Aurora Daily News," which is conducted by his sons. He has served as Mayor of Aurora besides filling other municipal offices, and was for many years a leader in the councils of the Republican party. Mr. Frazier was married in New York in 1855 to Miss Mary Stevens, who died in 1880.

WALTER S. FRAZIER, manufacturer, Au- rora, Ill., born in Chicago July 5, 1863; edu- cated in the Aurora High School; has been engaged with his father in manufacturing since 1881; was Captain of the Illinois National Guard four years; Lieutenant-Colonel of the same organization for a like period; is Vice- President of the Aurora Public Library Board.

CHARLES H. FRAEY, M. D., physician and surgeon, Aurora, Ill., born in Philadelphia July 18, 1865; was educated at St. Mary's College, Penn., and at St. Mary's College, Emmets- burg, Md .; graduated from Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1888; served a year on the staff of Jefferson Hospital; in 1889 came west, and before coming to Aurora practiced a year in Champaign County. In Aurora he has taken a prominent position in his profession. and from 1893 to 1897 was Assistant Superin- tendent of the Illinois Northern Hospital for Insane, at Elgin. Dr. Fraey is a member of the American, the Illinois State and the Fox River Valley Medical Associations. He is Med- ical Examiner for the Catholic Foresters and the Independent Order of Foresters, the St. Vincent De Paul Society and other orders and

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

fraternities, and is a member of the Columbian Club, the Elks and other organizations. In politics he is a Democrat and takes a leading part in political affairs. His wife, Mary (Loser) Fraey, is a daughter of John Loser, a merchant of Aurora.

PHILIP FREILER, distiller and wholesale liquor-dealer, Elgin, Ill., was born in Hartford, Conn., April 3, 1860, son of Joseph and Mary (Bachrach) Freiler, and was educated in Chicago, whither his parents removed in 1867. In early life he became connected with the liquor trade, in which his father and brother- in-law were engaged in Chicago. After some years the elder Freiler established a wholesale liquor house in Elgin, and in 1883 Philip Freiler purchased the business of which he has since been the head. In 1902 he bought what was known as the Stitzel Distillery at Louisville, Ky., and organized the Century Club Distillery Company, which has since operated the plant. Mr. Freiler is a director and the principal stockholder of this company. He is also inter- ested in banking operations in Elgin, where he holds considerable banking stock. During Governor Altgeld's administration he was Treas- urer of the Illinois Hospital for the Insane. In Masonry he has attained the Thirty-second Degree, and is a Noble of the Mystic Shrine; is also connected with several other fraternal organizations, including the Elks and Knights of Pythias. In 1883 he married Miss Lizzie Ehrlich, of New York City, and they have had the following named children: Florence J., now at Wellesley Hall, Mass .; Hilda Valerie and Ruth Beatrice.

OTTO FRELLSEN, hotel proprietor, St. Charles, Ill., was born in Denmark Dec. 8, 1866, came to the United States in 1888, and after stopping for a few months in Chicago removed to Geneva, where he found employ- ment as a farm laborer for three years. In 1892 he returned to Chicago, where he kept a saloon for two years. In 1894 he came to St. Charles, and was there engaged in the same line for a time, when he started in the hotel business as landlord and proprietor of the White Front Hotel, which soon became the leading hostelry of these regions. Mr. Frellsen is a member of the local lodge of Knights of Pythias. He was married Jan. 4, 1896, to Miss Kristine Maree Pettersen, of St. Charles.

BENJAMIN F. FRIDLEY ( deceased), pioneer lawyer, Aurora, Ill., was born in Elmira, N. Y., May 10, 1810, his birthplace being next door to that of the famous Democratic leader of more modern times, ex-Governor and ex-United States Senator David B. Hill. Left an orphan at two

BENJAMIN F. FRIDLEY.

years of age, Mr. Fridley was reared mainly by an elder sister who lived in Baltimore, Md. As a youth he was thrown almost entirely upon his own resources and, as a consequence, en- joyed but limited opportunities for acquiring an education. He early gave evidence of a remarkable energy and tenacity of purpose, as indicated by the fact that, when he determined to study law and wanted to procure a copy of "Chitty's Pleadings," he walked all the way from Elmira to Philadelphia for the purpose of securing the needed work. Through the assistance of his brother-in-law, who was a man of some means, he later went to New York and completed his law studies in that city. Mr. Fridley came to Illinois in the fall of 1834, bringing with him a small amount of capital which he had saved from professional earn- ings, and for a time made his home near Oswego, Kendall County. The following year he removed to Aurora, having in the meantime

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

located a claim on the east side of the river in Aurora Township, where he afterwards pur- chased a considerable body of Government land, including the site of the present Spring Lake Cemetery. There was little business for law- yers at Aurora at that time, so Mr. Fridley, who had studied surveying before coming west, turned his attention in this direction, and, by supplementing his labors as a surveyor with farming, became fairly prosperous. In 1836 he was elected the first Sheriff of Kane County, and in the discharge of the duties of this office greatly extended his practical knowledge of the law, so that when, in 1840, he was advanced to the position of Prosecuting Attorney for the district, he had already won a high rank among the pioneer members of the Bar. His district covered an area of twelve counties, and during his incumbency of several years he was brought in contact with the leading members of the profession in Northern Illinois. late Burton C. Cook, who succeeded Mr. Fridley as Prosecuting Attorney, speaking of the condition existing in this section at that time, says:

"During the term of Mr. Fridley as Prose- cuting Attorney, and for a part of my term, the northeastern part of the State was in- tested by a most dangerous and wicked asso- ciation of outlaws, thieves and counterfeiters, such as are often found on the frontiers of civilization, having grips, signs and pass- words, whereby they could identify each other. They were the enemies of society, un- scrupulous and brutal. The citizens of De- Kalb and Ogle counties organized bands of regulators to protect themselves and their property. Mr. Campbell, the Captain of the regulators, was shot at his own house at White Oak Grove, and then the citizens fol- lowed. captured and shot some of the more notorious of the gang, and it was finally broken up in this section. The able and efficient prosecution by my friend, Mr. Frid- ley, was greatly appreciated by the Bar and by the citizens generally at the time, and was greatly instrumental in freeing the country from the presence of evil-doers."

Mr. Fridley was a picturesque character, and it is doubtful if any member of the early Bar in Northern Illinois was more widely known or left behind him a larger fund of interesting reminiscence. While affecting a simplicity of speech and manner peculiar to the uneducated backwoodsman, his contemporaries had an ap-

preciation of his nimble wit and keen sarcasm which has been handed down to the Bar of the present day, and which never fails to furnish entertainment to themselves and their friends when "two or three" of the profession are "gathered together" in reminiscent mood. His practical knowledge of the law made him espe- cially successful as a trial lawyer, both as a prosecutor and as a representative of the de- tense. As a man of affairs he was eminently successful and built up a fortune through his land and farming operations. The later years of his life were given up almost entirely to looking after these interests, and for nearly forty years before his death-which occurred at his home in Aurora, May 29, 1898-he had been practically retired from the profession. During the period of his professional life and long afterwards he was looked upon as the Nestor of the Aurora Bar, and as such, as well as for many other traits of character, was always held in high esteem. Mr. Fridley was married in 1841, at Geneva, Ill., to Miss Eliza S. Kelley, daughter of Maj. William Kelley, a retired officer of the United States Army. Mrs. Fridley still survives, residing at Aurora, 111., which had been the home of herself and hus- band for nearly sixty years. Of five children born of this union only one is now living (1903), Mrs. Dunn, of Asheville, N. C.

ALBERT B. FULLER, lawyer, Aurora, Il] .. born in Rochester, N. Y., in 1826, and died in Aurora in 1857; admitted to the Bar in Aurora, and was one of the pioneer attorneys of that city. His early death cut short what promised to be a brilliant career. Mr. Fuller was married in 1855 to Miss Catherine Gates. of Jefferson County, N. Y., who afterward be- came the wife of Dr. P. A. Allaire, one of the pioneer physicians of Aurora.

HENRY G. GABEL, M. D., physician and sur- geon, Aurora, Ill., was born in Nassau, Ger- many, Oct. 27, 1841, and when nine years old was brought to this country by his parents. who established their home in Somonauk, La Salle County, Ill. There he was bred to a farmer's life and educated in the public schools. After reading medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. A. J. Redding, of Bristol, and Dr. L. R. Brigham. of Aurora, he completed his medical studies in the Eclectic Medical Institute, Cin- cinnati, Ohio, from which he received his

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

doctor's degree in 1874. The same year he began practice in Aurora, and here has been continuously engaged in professional labors to the present time (1904). Dr. Gabel contributes to the medical journals, and is a member of the American Medical Association, the Illinois State Medical Society, the Fox River Valley Medical Association, the National Eclectic Medical Association, and the Illinois Eclectie Medical Association. The Doctor is a Royal and Select Mason, and has served on the Board of Health and the Aurora Board of Aldermen. In 1869 he married Miss Jane C. Shepherd, of Kendall, Ill., and in 1876, after her death, married Miss Ella M. Olds, of Aurora. After the death of his second wife Dr. Gabel con- tracted a third marriage, in 1888, with Mrs. Eudora M. Lamb, of Chicago.

CYRIL GAGE, retired farmer, Hampshire, Ill., born in Wyoming County, N. Y., Feb. 13, 1823; grew to manhood in his native State, and came to Kane County, Ill., in November, 1845; went to California in 1852, but returned to Kane County two years later and purchased a 120-acre farm one mile east of Hampshire, where he resided until 1884, when he retired from active tarm life and removed to the vil- lage of Hampshire. On Jan. 25, 1849, he was married to Miss Julia Fields, and they have seven ehildren.

HERBERT A. GAGE, merchant, Pingree Grove, Ill., born in Hampshire Township, Kane County, Dec. 5, 1855, son of Cyril and Julia (Fields) Gage. His father settled in Hamp- shire Township, Kane County, about 1841, and still resides there, being at the present time (1903) above eighty years of age. Mr. Herbert A. Gage has been identified with several enter- prises, and at the present time is conducting a general store at Pingree Grove. He was mar- ried in 1879 to a daughter of Henry McBride, of Elgin.

HENRY J. GAHAGAN, physician and sur- geon, Elgin, Ill., born at Grafton, Ill., Dec. 27, 1867, son of Bernard and Ellen (Armstrong) Gahagan; educated in the public schools at Grafton-graduating from the high school- and at a private school in Chicago; graduated from Rush Medical College (Chicago) in 1893; appointed assistant physician in the Eastern Illinois Hospital for Insane in 1893; later in

the same year was transferred, at his own request, to the Illinois Northern Hospital for Insane at Elgin, remaining with the latter institution until 1897; began private practice in Elgin in the latter year, in which he has since been successfully engaged. He was mar- ried in 1893 to Miss Della Cullen, of Amboy, Ill.

ELI H. GALE, physician and surgeon, Aurora, born in Townshend, Windham County, Vt., April 14, 1857; was educated in his native State, graduating from Middlebury College, Vt., in 1862, and from the medical department of the University of Pennsylvania in 1865; was examined and appointed Surgeon in the Union army the latter year, being assigned to the One Hundred and Eighty-sixth Pennsylvania Vol- unteer Infantry and put in charge of the bar- racks hospital in Philadelphia, where he re- mained until the close of the war. The following year he located in Aurora, where he has remained to the present time, with the exception of the period from 1880 to 1890 when he was associated with his brother in profes- sional work in Marshall County, Ill. Under Presidents Harrison, Mckinley and Roosevelt he has been a member of the Board of Pension Examiners at Aurora, of which body he is now . the President. He contributes to medical jour- nals and stands high in the profession. Dr. Gale married Miss Adelaide R. Parker, of Aurora, in 1868, who died in 1874. Six years later he married Miss Mary A. Pike, of Bloom- ington. Their children are Henry G., a grad- uate of, and now instructor in, the University of Chicago; Mrs. Mabel Gale Lowrie, of De- troit, Mich .; Mrs. Frances Gale Stewart, of Plainfield, Ill .; Eli P. and Burton P., a student of the University of Chicago.

WARD B. GALE (deceased ), late a noted musician, Elgin, Ill., was born June 22, 1858, at Volo, Lake County, Ill., where he grew up, receiving a public school education and learning the trade of a machinist. About 1882 he came to Elgin, and so long as his health permitted was connected with the National Watch Fac- tory there. Soon after his arrival in Elgin he joined the Germania Band. and in later years held more than a local reputation as a musician. From 1884 until his death he was a member of the Elgin Military Band. He was married in 1881 to Miss Ida Kellar, of Indianapolis, Ind., who survives him, and still lives in Elgin.

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

ELIJAH H. GAMMON ( deceased), manufac- turer and philanthropist, late of Batavia, was born in Lexington, Maine, Dec. 23, 1819, se- cured his education by his efforts, and in early life became a Methodist preacher. In 1851 he came to DeKalb County, Ill., and for a time conducted a private school at Ross' Grove in that county. Later resuming his ministerial work, he had charge of churches at St. Charles, Chicago and Batavia, and three years was Pre- siding Elder of the St. Charles district. Being compelled by a bronchial affection to retire from the ministry, he engaged in manufacturing in Batavia, and still later in the sale of agri- cultural implements in Chicago. In 1868 he became head of the firm of Gammon & Prindle, who were the pioneer distributors of the Marsh harvester throughout the United States. As head of the celebrated firm of Gammon & Deer- ing he became widely known, and was emi- nently successful in the manufacture and sale of farm machinery. In 1880 he was one of the founders of the Plano Manufacturing Company, and was identified with these interests until his death, July 3, 1891. He acquired a large fortune, and was generous in his benefactions. The Maine Wesleyan Seminary and the Garrett Biblical Institute were recipients of his bounty, and the Gammon Theological Seminary was founded by him.

ALEXANDER GAMSEY, physician, Batavia, Ill., born in Saratoga, N. Y., Aug. 23, 1813, son of David G. Gamsey, who was eminent as a lawyer, jurist and Congressman. The son was reared to manhood in his native State, and re- ceived his academic education in the famous schools at Fredonia and West Point Academy. He read medicine with Dr. Lewis at Buffalo, and with Dr. Shipman, the pioneer homeo- pathic physician of Chicago, and in 1842 began practice in Chicago, where he conducted the first homeopathic pharmacy in the city. In 1850 he removed to Batavia, where he followed his profession forty years, retiring in 1890. Now at the age of ninety years he is still hale and active, and officiates as Health Officer in Batavia. For many years he has been a con- tributor to his school of medicine, and is one of the oldest practitioners of homeopathy in Illinois.

EDWARD C. GARFIELD ( deceased), farmer, Campion Township, Kane County, born at Mt.

Holly, Vt., Dec. 8, 1835; came to Kane County, Ill., with his parents in 1841; remained on his father's farm until twenty-three years of age, when he took up surveying and followed that occupation for several years; later engaged in farming and followed that occupation until his death, which occurred Aug. 4, 1896. Mr. Gar- field was married on Oct. 7, 1857, to Frances H. Wing.

TIMOTHY P. GARFIELD (deceased), pioneer farmer, Campton Township, Kane County, Ill., born about 1800; came to Illinois in 1841, locating in Campton Township, Kane County, where he conducted a farm and hotel; polit- ically he was a member of the Whig party and took an active interest in the management of local affairs, serving in several local offices; was a practical surveyor and laid out most of the roads in his locality. He died March 27, 1859, his widow surviving until Nov. 3, 1869.

JOHN E. GARREY, physician and surgeon, Aurora, Ill., born in Chicago Feb. 9, 1848, and educated in the public schools, State Normal School ( Oshkosh, Wis.) and Bryant & Strat- ton's Business College (Chicago) ; read medi- cine under the preceptorship of Dr. J. F. Pritchard, of Manitowoc, Wis .; matriculated in Rush Medical College, Chicago, in 1876, and graduated from that institution in the class of 1878; practiced medicine twelve years in Wis- consin, and in 1891 went abroad and took a post-graduate course in medicine and surgery at the University of Heidelberg, Germany; removed to Aurora, Ill., in 1892, and has since been a successful practitioner of that city.

R. W. GATES, Justice of the Peace and No- tary Public, Aurora, Ill., born at Antwerp, Jef- ferson County, N. Y., Aug. 29, 1834; came with his parents to Aurora in August, 1838; began his business career as a clerk in the store of John S. Hawley; has served as City Clerk three years, was City Alderman about eighteen or twenty years, and has served as Justice of the Peace for about thirty years. Mr. Gates was married in 1871 to Miss Hermione L. Hill, of Batavia.

ALONZO GEORGE (deceased), merchant, financier and manufacturer, Aurora, 111., was born in Strafford, Orange County, Vt., April 11, 1822, and during his business life became one

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

of the notable characters of Kane County, re- markable alike for his integrity, ability and public spirit. He received his education in the common schools of his native State, and spent the first sixteen years of his life on his father's farın. He then became a clerk in the store of Justin S. Morrill at Strafford. This gentleman afterward became United States Sen- ator, and in his earlier years Mr. George was his business partner, the association not closing until the election of Mr. Morrill as Senator. Upon the dissolution of the Morrill partnership Mr. George engaged in business for himself at Post Mills, Vt., where he conducted a very suc- cessful mercantile establishment. During his residence there he was twice elected to the General Assembly of Vermont, where he ac- quitted himself with marked ability. Mr. George removed to Illinois in 1859, and made his home in Aurora, where for some years he was engaged in the wool and lumber business. In 1871, in company with others, he established the Second National Bank of Aurora, and was elected its President, a position he held until the expiration of its charter in 1891. Although the bank had paid ten per cent dividends yearly from its beginning, yet upon its liquidation it paid out $250,000 to the stockholders, a remark- able instance of financiering. A new bank was established, known as the Old Second National Bank, having a capital of $200,000, with Mr. George as its President. In 1895, warned by failing health, Mr. George resigned the presi- dency of the bank, and was succeeded by his son, William George, who has since conducted its affairs with characteristic ability. Alonzo George was a supporter of nearly all the manu- facturing enterprises of the city, and was very justly called the father of Aurora's industries. He was a liberal but not ostentatious giver to all worthy charities of the day, and a ready contributor to all city improvements. Always a business man, he was much interested in political matters, and was a stanch Republican. In 1870 he was elected to the County Board of Supervisors, and in 1873 was Mayor of Aurora. At various times he was School Direc- tor and Town Treasurer. Mr. George was mar- ried in 1851 to Miss Lydia R., daughter of Col. Elisha May, of West Fairlee, Vt. Of this union were born Lizzie, who died in infancy, and William George, of Aurora. Mr. George passed away May 18, 1895, and his widow, Nov. 30, of the same year, both residing in Aurora at

the time of their demise. It is worthy of note in this connection that both the May and George families were prominent in Revolutionary days.

BENJAMIN GEORGE, farmer, Aurora, 111., born at Strafford, Orange County, Vt., Nov. 30, 1825; came west in March, 1856, locating in Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, where he purchased a 300-acre tarm to which he made subsequent additions until his holdings em- braced 500 acres; removed from his farm to Aurora in 1884, where he has been interested in some of the manufacturing industries of that city. He was married in 1853 to Marcia Rob- inson, of Strafford, Vt.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 153

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