Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 160

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

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MAYER A. JOSHEL, merchant, Geneva, 111., was born in Touraggen, Russia, April 24, 1870, and was educated in the private schools of his native country. He came to the United States

in 1886, landing at Baltimore, Md., where he spent some six months. After this he came to Missouri, and spent two and a half years in St. Joseph. In 1891 he located in Chicago, where he engaged in business when just twenty- one years of age. The following year he came to Geneva, where for two years he was engaged in the dry-goods trade, when he sold out, and established a flour, feed and coal business, with which he is still connected. Mr. Joshel was married to Miss Anna Swanson, of Geneva, Ill., in 1895.

FRANK W. JOSLYN, lawyer, Elgin, Ill., was born in Elgin, April 27, 1860, the son of Col. Edward S. and Jennie ( Padelford ) Joslyn, received his educational training in the public schools and at the Elgin Academy, graduating from the latter institution in the class of 1881. He was admitted to the bar in 1884, and has since been in active practice in Elgin; was elected City Attorney of Elgin in 1885; ap- pointed Master in Chancery for the City Court of Elgin in 1889; elected State's Attorney of Kane County in 1892, and re-elected in 1896, serving eight years. Mr. Joslyn has been prom- inent in the councils and campaigns of the Re- publican party, and has also taken a promi- nent part in most of the fraternal organiza- tions, being affiliated with the Independent Or- der of Odd Fellows, the Knights of Pythias. the Elks and Modern Woodmen of America, was organizer of the Lodge of Woodmen in Elgin, and for four years was consulting at- torney of the order throughout its entire juris- diction. In 1886 Mr. Joslyn married Miss Car- rie A. Mead, daughter of Frank W. and Emma A. Mead, formerly of McHenry County, Ill. They have one son, Paul Mead Joslyn.

ROBERT W. JOSLYN, Secretary Elgin Loan & Homestead Association, Elgin, Ill .; born in Elgin, Sept. 25, 1864; educated in the public schools of his native city; began his business career as an employe in the Elgin Watch Fac- tory; later became a clerk in the First Na- tional Bank, and has held his present position since 1888. Mr. Joslyn was married in 1888 to Miss Isabel E. Jackman, of Elgin.

DEXTER C. JUDD. Sr. (deceased ), pioneer ; was born in Connecticut of English ancestry, and early removed to New York, whence he came to Illinois about 1834. A blacksmith and

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an axe-maker by trade, he is said by an old settler to have been the first man "to pound iron" in Elgin, where he worked at his trade for a year or two. He soon went back to the East, and resumed his trade in New York, where he lived until his death in 1848. He was a brother of Thomas Judd, the well-known pioneer of Sugar Grove Township.

DEXTER C. JUDD (deceased), pioneer farmer, Sugar Grove, Kane County, Ill., was boin in Charlemont, Mass., March 11, 1822, and at eight years of age removed with his parents to Warren County, N. Y., where he attained his imajority. While a lad he learned the black- smith trade, working at this trade and axe-mak- ing until he came west in 1850, settling in Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, Ill., Here he purchased a farm, to which he there- after gave most of his attention, though mean- while working part of the time at his trade. The later years of his life he spent in Aurora, where he died in 1893. Twice Clerk of Sugar Grove Township, he held other local positions. His wife (born Eliza Brown) was a native of New York, where she was reared and educated. Her death occurred in 1892. The surviving members of this family are Asahel T. and Sar- son L. Judd, of Sugar Grove, and Samuel B. and Charles D. Judd of Aurora.

ASAHEL T. JUDD, eldest of the four sons, was born in Warren County, N. Y., March 21. 1844, but was reared to manhood in Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, and educated in the local schools. In the fall of 1862 he en- listed in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was in the Union service during three years of the Civil War. His regiment was assigned to the West- ern Army, and he saw much active service, par- ticipating in the battles of Champion Hills, the siege of Vicksburg and many minor engage- ments. After the war he returned to Kane County and resumed farming. In later years he has given special attention to stock feeding, in which he has been very successful. Mr. Judd is a Mason, and has been affiliated with Aurora Lodge No. 254 since 1865. In 1868 he married Miss Elizabeth Reynolds, daughter of Silas Reynolds, one of the pioneers of Kane County, a sketch of whom is found on another page. Their only child, Ira R., is now con- nected with a Batavia manufacturing firm.

PERCY G. JUDD, farmer and stock-raiser, Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, Ill .; born in the township where he now resides, Nov. 1, 1865, son of Thomas and Electa (Rice) Judd; was educated at the Sugar Grove Normal and Industrial Institute, founded by his father and others, and began his business. career as a farmer. In 1886 he went to Sherman County, Kans., where he lived for ten years, and in the meantime was engaged in farming and teaching school. Returning to Illinois in 1896, he engaged in farming and stock-raising in Sugar Grove Township near the place of his birth, but later removed to the vicinity of Roland, Manitoba, where he invested in lands. He served for some time as a member of the Sugar Grove Township Board of School Trus- tees. Mr. Judd was married in 1889 to Miss Edith Williams, of Goodland, Kans.

PHILIP N. JUDD, farmer and stock-raiser, Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, Ill .; born at East Charlemont, Mass., Aug. 25, 1863, son of Thomas and Electa (Rice) Judd; grew to manhood on his father's farm in Sugar Grove Township, and obtained his education at the Sugar Grove Normal and Industrial Institute. After the death of his parents, he conducted a farm at Sugar Grove for one year, and then removed to Kansas, where he pre-empted a iract of government land. After living in Kan- sas several years, during which time he trav- eled extensively throughout the Rocky Moun- tain region, he returned to Sugar Grove, where he engaged in farming and stock-raising. Mr. Judd has served as Collector of his township. In 1897 he was married to Miss Maggie Booth, daughter of John W. Booth, of Chana, Ill., and they have two children-Charlotte and Wesley T. Judd.

SARSON L. JUDD (deceased), farmer and merchant, Sugar Grove, Kane County, Ill .; born in Warner County, N. Y., March 14, 1849, son of Dexter C. Judd, and grandson of Sarson L. Judd, a venerable pioneer of the county, who has been deceased many years; was reared in the town of Sugar Grove, where he received a public school education, and was trained to a farming life. Soon after his marriage he re- moved to Iroquois County, Ill., where he farmed six years, and then returned to Kane County to settle on his father's old homestead, which he purchased and owned up to the time of his

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

death. While engaged in farming and stock- raising, Mr. Judd was for many years a large dealer in live stock, and after 1897 dealt in coal, lumber and agricultural implements on an ex- tensive scale in Sugar Grove Village, to which he removed in 1896. He was a prominent Re- publican, and often served delegate to County, Congressional and State Conventions of the party. For nine years he was a member of the Board of Supervisors. His first wife, born Mary Gillett, daughter of Lewis H. Gil- lett, pioneer, died in 1894, leaving two sons, Lewis D. and Clarence, now well-known young farmers of Sugar Grove Township. In 1895 Mr. Judd married Miss Susie Kauth, daughter of Michael Kauth, of Sugar Grove Township. Mr. Judd died at his home in Sugar Grove, Feb. 27, 1904, at the age of 53 years, 11 months and 24 days.

THOMAS JUDD ( deceased ), pioneer citizen; born in East Charlemont, Franklin County, Mass., Sept. 4, 1812, son of Asahel Judd, a de- scendant of Thomas Judd, who came from England and settled at Cambridge, Mass., in 1684. He grew to years of maturity on a farm in Massachusetts and after obtaining a practi- cal English education, in the early '30s came to Illinois, remaining for a time in Chicago, but later removed to DuPage County; in 1835, came to Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, and, during the early years of his residence in the county, was connected with the government land surveys, afterwards purchasing a tract of government land near Sugar Grove Station, where he established his home. He later in- vested in other lands, and for many years was one of the extensive land-owners in that part of the county. Mr. Judd assisted in building the Chicago & Iowa Railroad through Sugar Grove Township, and erected the first build- ings at Sugar Grove, where he became the first station agent. When the village was started, he built a fine three-story hotel with all modern improvements, and, as he was familiarly known throughout that region as "Uncle Tom," he called his place "Uncle Tom's Cabin." He also built the first store building in the village of Sugar Grove, and was the first merchant there. Always actively interested in educational matters, he was one of the found- ers of the Sugar Grove Normal and Industrial Institute, and at one time sought to have an agricultural experimental station established

there, proposing to donate generously to the enterprise. He was a member of the Consti- tutional Convention of 1847, served as one of the Supervisors of Kane County, and filled many positions of trust and responsibility. Through- out his life he was one of the most influential men of Kane County, and his death brought to his neighbors and friends a deep sense of personal bereavement, Mr. Judd was married in 1858 to Miss Electa S. Rice, of Charlemont, Mass., who met her death in a railway accident at Downers Grove, Ill., a few months after the death of her husband, which occurred Jan. 11, 1881. The living children of Mr. and Mrs. Judd are: Philip N., Percy G., Mrs. Ermina (Judd) Booth, Andrew T., Sugar Grove, Ill .; Frank L. of Los Angeles, Cal .; Roy D. Judd, of Gardner, Mass., and Charlotte M., of St. Louis, Mo.

LEWIS B. JUDSON, Sr. (deceased), pioneer, was born in Westfield, Mass., Nov. 13, 1806, and came of an old New England family. His grand- father, John J. Judson, was a Revolutionary veteran, and his father, Lucius B. Judson, par- ticipated in the war of 1812. Lewis B. Jud- son grew to manhood in his native town, when he came west to White Pigeon, Mich, where he bought land and brought under cultivation a large farm. He was one of the founders of the village of White Pigeon, and was influential in its development. During the Black Hawk war he served as Paymaster of the Michigan regiment commanded by Col. Stewart, and, while stationed in Chicago, he was sent out with a scouting expedition, which brought him for the first time into the Fox River country- particularly into what is now included in Kane and Kendall counties-his impression being so favorable that, in 1834, he sold his Michigan property and removed to what is now Kendall County. Here he made claim to 600 acres of land which he purchased from the Government as it came into the market. Part of this land is now in the village of Oswego, which was laid out by him, and the first house in that village was put up under his direction. His residence was maintained there until 1873, when he re- moved to Aurora. Although nearly seventy years of age at that time, he soon became promi- nent among the leading men of affairs, and aided in the establishment of the Aurora Sil- ver Plate factory, the Aurora Cotton Mills Com- pany, and other industrial enterprises. In banking circles he was equally helpful, and was

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

connected with the First National, the Aurora National, and the Merchants' National Banks. Much of his means were invested in the im- provement of property, and the old Sencen- baugh building, the Scott & Bease block, and other business ,blocks and fine residences showed his enterprise and public spirit. He was one of the early Coroners of Kendall County, a Justice of the Peace, and filled many other local offices. Catherine P. Mudgett, who was born in New York, became his first wife, in 1830, but died at Oswego in 1840. Three years later he married Diana E. Stafford, a native of Willoughby, Ohio, and a member of one of the early pioneer families of Kendall County. Of the first marriage were born six children, and eight by the second, and ten of these children were living in 1903. Mr. Jud- son died in Aurora in 1900, his wife passing away in 1897. Mr. Judson was acquainted with Abraham Lincoln. They became friends in the Black Hawk War, and in his later years Mr. Lincoln was several times a guest in the Jud- son home. Mr. Judson was a Republican, and voted with the party from its formation until his death.

LEWIS B. JUDSON, Jr., lawyer, Aurora, Ill., was born in Oswego, Ill., April 9, 1852, son of Lewis B. and Diana E. ( Stafford) Judson, and educated in the local schools, Clark's Semi- nary, and the Aurora schools. In 1877 he went to Kansas and made his home in what is now Kingman County, when its entire population numbered forty-six people. He bought a section of government land and, for about five years, was engaged in farm- ing and stock-raising. Later he leased the land he had brought under cultivation, and removed to Kingman, practically giving the town its start by putting up six buildings, the first two- story structures in the place. In 1889 he re- turned to his farm, where he spent his time until 1898, when the failing health of his father called him back to Aurora, which has since been his home. After going to Kansas he read law under the preceptorship of Hon. F. E. Gillett, of Hutchinson, Kan., now one of the Territorial Judges of Oklahoma, and was ad- mitted to the Bar. For a time he was asso- ciated with Gov. Stanley at Wichita, and later with Judge Gillett at Kingman. Taking an active part in both State and local politics, for seven years he was Chairman of the Kingman

County Republican Committee, and was asso- ciated with nearly all the prominent men of that day in the State. With the affairs of that State he still keeps in closest touch, and retains many important interests in Kansas. Mr. Judson was married in 1874 to Miss Lillie A. Hathaway, of Deansville, Oneida County, N. Y., daughter of W. S: Hathaway, a man of affairs, and a stanch friend of both Roscoe Conkling and Gov. Francis J. Kernan. The Governor was a strong old-line Democrat, and considered it a "mysterious dispensation of Providence" that his three daughters had all married prominent Republicans.

RICHARD JULIAN (deceased), pioneer farmer, Plato Township, Kane County, was born in Cornwall, Eng., March 30, 1825, left an or- phan at seven years of age, and thereafter being dependent on his own resources, educated him- self and learned farming in England. In 1849 he removed to Canada and the following year to Elgin, Ill. Here he learned the stone-mason's trade, at which he worked the most of the time until 1869. That year he purchased a fine farm in Plato Township, Kane County, where he was extensively engaged in dairy farming until 1897, when he retired to a small farm in that neighborhood. In 1902 he removed to Elgin and there died Jan. 29, 1903. Mr. Julian laid out the addition to Elgin, now known as Jul- ian's re-subdivision, and a street in this sub- division is called Julian's Place. Mr. Jul- ian was first married in 1850 to Eliza Thomp- son, a native of London, Eng .; his second mar- riage, contracted in 1883, was with Mrs. Louisa Harrison, of Plato Centre, a daughter of Par- don Tabor, who survives her husband.

FRANCIS KEENAN, retired farmer, Elburn, Ill .; born in County Westmeath, Ireland, in August. 1823; came to America when nineteen years of age, locating in Kane County, Ill., where he became an extensive land-owner, but in recent years divided about 495 acres of his holdings between his three sons. He was mar- ried on Dec. 3, 1853, to Fannie Horne, who died June 9, 1869.

PETER KEIFER, farmer and dairy mana- ger, Virgil Township, Kane County, was born in Germany, Oct. 11, 1840, and in 1864 came to Kane -County, Ill., where in 1876 he bought a farm one and a half miles south of Virgil Post-

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office, on which he now resides. He has served as School Director one term. In religion he is connected with the local German Catholic church. October 11, 1869, he was married to Miss Barbara Cien, also German born. They have had eight children born to them-seven daughters and one son.

JAMES D. KELLEHER, Batavia, Ill .; born in Batavia, Ill., May 6, 1859, son of Michael Kelleher; was left an orphan when ten years of age, and from that time carried the burden of his own support. He attended the public school as circumstances permitted, and began work in Sperry's iron foundry when fourteen years of age. He has been continuously con- nected with these works up to the present time (1903), and for fourteen years was foreman of the shops. For eight years he has been a mem- ber of the Batavia Board of Aldermen, having served four terms. He belongs to the Catholic Order of Foresters and the Mystic Workers. In 1884 he married Miss Nellie Mulligan, of West Chicago.

JOHN KELLEY (deceased), lawyer; was born at Hampshire, Kane County, -Oct. 15, 1853, son of John and Bridget (Dahoney) Kelley; natives of Ireland who came to Illinois in 1845. locating in Hampshire Township, Kane County. The subject of this sketch was admitted to the bar in 1890, and was thereafter engaged in the practice of his profession and the insurance business in Aurora until the time of his death, July 20, 1902. He served in several official po- sitions, including that of County Sheriff, mem- ber of the Board of Supervisors of Aurora Township and West Aurora School Board, and Assistant State's Attorney. He was married to Miss Johanna Hogan, of Rutland Township, Kane County.

ELWOOD E. KENYON, lawyer, Elgin, Ill., was born in Coldwater, Mich., in 1862; was brought by his parents to Elgin in his early childhood, and was reared to manhood in the Illinois city. His literary education was ob- tained in the public schools, and his legal stud- ies were conducted under the preceptorship of T. J. Rushton, of Elgin. He was admitted to the Bar of the Supreme Court of Illinois in 1895, and has since practiced in Elgin. In 1901 he was elected a member of the Elgin Board of Aldermen and re-elected to the same posi-

tion in 1903. He is a member of the I. O. O. F., affiliating with Kane Lodge, No. 407. He was married in 1891 to Miss Lillie P. Sher- wood, daughter of Nelson Sherwood ( deceased ), of Elgin.

JAMES KENDALL, farmer and Justice of the Peace, Plato Township, Kane County; born in Cornwall, Eng., Nov. 14, 1846; came to Canada with his parents a few months after birth and located in Kane County in 1871; has devoted his attention to farming in Plato Township since 1874; has held minor public offices, and at the present time is serving as Justice of the Peace; married Mary M. Pease, of Plato Township.

H. E. KERCH, M. D., Dundee, physician, born in Stephenson County, Ill., March 10, 1868; son of J. H. Kerch, was reared on his father's farm, and educated in the public school, and in the Normal School at Dixon, Ill. Before taking up the study of medicine he taught a country school for three years. He entered Chicago Homeopathic Medical College in 1889 and graduated there in 1892, after which for eighteen months he was interne in the Cook County Hospital. In the fall of 1893 he opened an office in Dundee, soon winning many friends and a large practice. Dr. Kerch is a member of tlie Illinois and the National Homo- pathic Socicties, is a Lecturer on Materia Medica at the Chicago Homoeopathic College, and for five years has been a member of the Board of Trustees of the Village Library; for two years has also been Village Trustee. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Masonic Order. He was married in June, 1896, to Miss Nellie Ireck, of Dundee.

G. OSBORN KERFOOT, dentist, Batavia, Ill .; born in the province of Ontario, Canada, Nov. 30, 1871; educated in the public schools and at Hamlin University (St. Paul, Minn.), gradu- ated from the Northwestern College of Dental Surgery in the class of 1894, and the same year began practice at Batavia, where he has won an enviable reputation as one of the leading den- tists of the Fox River Valley. He was married in 1898 to Miss Harriet Murchie, of Batavia.

ELISHA D. KETCHUM (deceased), farmer and stock-raiser; born at Clarksburg, Mass., Aug. 31, 1822; grew to maturity in his native State; educated in the public schools and was

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

trained to farming; married in 1844 Betsy Hay- den, and in 1849 removed to Illinois, locating on a farm near Palatine, where he farmed on a large scale for many years. He came to Kane County in 1879, and purchased a large farm near Dundee and engaged in dairying. Mr. Ketchum died Nov. 9, 1895, his widow surviving him until March, 1903.

SEYMOUR E. KEYES.

SEYMOUR EDWIN KEYES, Superintendent Kane County Alms House, Geneva, Ill., was born in Berlin, Rensselaer County, N. Y., Dec. 16, 1850. and was brought by his parents to Hampshire. Kane County, Ill., in 1851. His education was acquired in the public schools, and in early life he engaged in farming. In politics he is a Republican, and in 1882 he was appointed Deputy Sheriff and Jailer, a position he held for four years. In 1888 he was named as Superintendent of the alms house, and is still active in that position (1903). He is a member of the Republican County Committee, and belongs to the Rock City Lodge, Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the Modern Woodmen of America.

SEYMOUR A. KEYES (deceased), Hamp- shire, Ill., farmer, was born in Pownal, Mass., Nov. 1, 1822, and died Dec. 8, 1879. When a

young man he taught school in Rensselaer County, N. Y., and coming to Hampshire, Ill., in 1851, bought an 30-acre tract of land, -on which the east half of Hampshire is now lo- cated. When the line of the Chicago & Pacific Railway was being laid out he gave the right of way through the village. In politics he was a Republican, and in religion proved hin- self a very active factor. Mr. Keyes was mar- ried Jan. 27, 1842, to Miss Malvina D. Horton. and their children were as follows: Martha M. (Mrs Nathan S. Carlisle) ; Mary M. (Mrs. Lyman J. Carlisle ) ; Harriet B. ( Mrs. Samuel Hawley) ; Seymour E .; Willis H .; Eda L. (Mrs. Charles Hottgren) ; and Addie J. (Mrs. Wil- liam Devine ).

L. J. KIBLING, merchant and manager of the Chicago Telephone Company, Bald Mound, Kane County, Ill .; born in the village where he now resides, April 25. 1858; remained on his father's farm until twenty-one years of age, and established himeslf in the mercantile business at Bald Mound in 1893; was Post- master at Bald Mound one term; married Lau- retta Cronk.

CHARLES S. KILBOURNE, merchant and manufacturer, was born in Berkshire, Vt., Nov. 6. 1851; came with his parents to Illinois in 1858 and grew up in Kane County; was fitted for a business career in the West Aurora pub- lie schools, and in 1869 became an employe of the banking house of Cushman & Hardin, Chicago. After remaining there five years he became connected with the private bank- ing house of Bosworth & Carpenter at Elgin, 111., which was shortly afterwards merged

into the First National Bank of Elgin. This connection lasted from 1874 to 1878. and the methodical habits and precision in the con- duct of affairs, which have been characteristic of Mr. Kilbourne in later years, are probably due in large measure to his bank training. In 1878 he severed his connection with the bank to become a junior member of the firm of Gould & Kilbourne, then established for the manufac- ture of butter and cheese, his associate being C. W. Gould, one of the pioneer butter makers of the Elgin district. This firm was in existence about three years, and during that time oper- ated a number of creameries. It was dissolved in 1881 and Mr. Kilbourne continued the same line of manufacturing alone, operating creamer-

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

ies in Northern Illinois. In 1885 he organized and incorporated the now widely known Fox River Butter Company, which succeeded to the business he had previously conducted. The gen- eral offices of this corporation were established at Aurora in 1890, and it has since directed from this point manufacturing and merchan- dising operations which extend all over the United States, with branches in the more impor- tant cities of the country. Its manufacturing plants are located at different points in Illinois, Wisconsin and Minnesota. Mr. Kilbourne has been President, General Manager, and principal owner of the stock of the corporation since it came into existence, and in this connection is the largest producer of fancy creamery butter in the United States. His home has been in Aurora since 1890. He married, in 1878, Miss Mabel C. Newton of Cleveland, Ohio,

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 160

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