Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 162

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

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LUTHER C. LEE, pioneer, Aurora, born in Craftsburg, Vt., March 4, 1827, son of Maj. Theodore D. Lee, who saw service under Gen. Sam Houston in Texas; grew up in Vermont, was educated in the public schools, and learned the jeweler's trade. In 1847 he and his brother went to Texas, later locating in Aurora, Ill., where they were together in the jeweler trade until the breaking out of the Civil War, when he aided in the organization of the Fifty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he was commissioned First Lieutenant, and promoted to Captain. He was in active service during the fall of 1864, when greatly impaired health made it necessary for him to resign. After his partial recovery of health he was in busi- ness for several years in Aurora, for some time lived in Virginia City, Mont., but, returning to Aurora, died there in 1886. Mr. Lee married Miss Martha Cross, and, after her death, Miss Fannie Jackson, both of Aurora,

RUSSELL W. LEE ( deceased), farmer, Kane- ville, Ill., was born in Middletown, Conn., June 20, 1822, received his education in the home schools, and in 1844 came to Kane County, Ill., where he bought a quarter-section of Govern- ment land, which he converted into one of the choice farms of the county. For several winters after his arrival in the State he taught school, and soon won more than local prominence. He served at different times as Constable, Justice of the Peace, Supervisor, Assessor, Commis- sioner of Highways, and for sixteen years was President of the Board of School Directors. For two terms he was Postmaster. In 1848 he married Sophronia C. Spencer, a native of Con- necticut, and of this marriage were born three daughters and two sons. One daughter died in Kaneville April 24, 1896.

WARREN S. LEE, farmer and stock-raiser, Kaneville, Kane County, was born in Kaneville March 24, 1860, son of Russell W. and Sophro- nia C. (Spencer) Lee, was educated in the local

schools, and when he reached the age of twenty- one, starting out for himself, began life as a farmer, which has been his vocation to the present time. He has purchased land in con- siderable amounts, and has dealt in it specula- tively with much success. He has been As- sessor and Justice of the Peace, holding each office two terms. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America.

G. KELLER LEET, land-owner, Aurora, 111., born in Bradford, Stark County, Ill., Dec. 21. 1873, son of William A. Leet, was educated in his native town and joined his father in busi- ness when he was sixteen years of age. While the family remained at Bradford he gave his attention to the study of farming and grain interests, gaining a thoroughly practical knowl- edge of both lines. In 1890 he came to Aurora, where he has since given his attention to the management of large property interests. Mr. Leet is a large land-owner in both Kane and Bureau Counties, and until 1903 was associated with his brother in many banking enterprises. In 1898 he married Miss Maude Gray, daughter of John Gray, of Sandwich, Ill.

WILLIAM LEET.

WILLIAM LEET (deceased), merchant and banker, Aurora, Ill., was born in Chester, Conn., Oct. 20, 1827, son of Samuel and Anna Leet,

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

both of New England ancestry, the father being descended from William Leete, who came from England in 1639, was Governor of New Haven Colony and later of Connecticut Colony. His parents having but limited means, William Leet had difficulty in securing an education equal to his ambition, and what he did obtain was largely won in the school of experience. In 1841 he removed to Illinois with his uncle, a Mr. James, and worked on a farm in Peoria County some four or five years, after which he spent a short time in his native State. Soon returning to Illinois, he was employed for a time in Bureau County, where he purchased eighty acres of wild land. Later on he pur- chased and operated a much larger farm in the same neighborhood, known in after years as the Leet homestead. Some years before the Civil War he entered the grain trade at Henry, Mar- shall County, and for years controlled the markets at Bradford, Castleburg, Duncan and Lombardville, all stations on the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railway. Removing to Brad- ford, he purchased the Bradford Exchange Bank in 1875, of which he was owner and manager until his death. Later in life he established a bank at Audubon, Iowa, of which his son Frank W. Leet became manager. He was one of the largest land-owners in Illinois at one time. having over 5,000 acres in Stark County alone. beside extensive holdings in Iowa and other States. His grain business brought him to Chicago in 1888, where he made his home two years. In 1890 he removed to Aurora, where he lived until his death, Sept 5, 1896. Mr. Leet was married in 1854 to Miss Helen Spear, who survives him, and lives in Aurora. She is a native of England. She has remarried, and is the wife of Matthew T. Chapman, President of the American Well Works Company. Mrs. Chapman and her children have kept the large Leet estate intact, and have managed it as a copartnership affair. The children are: Mrs. Jonathan C. Stoughton, widow of the Rev. Dr. Stoughton: Frank W. Leet, of Audubon, Iowa. President of four banks in that State; Mrs. Rose Thompson, of Bradford, Ill., who has the unique distinction of being President of two banks; Mrs. Anna Boysen, wife of a large land-owner near Manning, Iowa; and Keller Leet, an extensive land-owner of Aurora, Ill.

CHARLES W. LEHMANN, attorney. Elgin, Ill .; born in Roxbury, Mass., Dec. 3, 1874: edu-

cated in the public schools, Elgin Academy, Lake Forest Academy, and obtained his legal education at Kent College (Chicago), after- wards taking a special course at Harvard and Heidelberg University. He was admitted to the Bar in 1896, and began practice in Elgin in 1900. Mr. Lehmann was married Dec. 14, 1899, to Miss Janet N. Ranstead, daughter of Judge John W. Ranstead, of Elgin.

WILLIAM LEMKE, retired farmer, Dundee, Ill .; born in Germany Nov. 21, 1832; came to Dundee, Ill., in 1859, and for more than thirty years was identified with agricultural interests in that locality. He was married in 1858 to Miss Christina Sternberg, who was also a native of Germany.

ALPHONSO B. LEMON, farmer and stock- raiser, Campton Township, Kane County; born in the township where he now resides, Sept. 8, 1858; educated in the public schools; located on his present 260-acre farm in 1882; married, in 1880, Adeline J. Addie.

FRANK J. LENNARTZ.

FRANK J. LENNARTZ, merchant and City Treasurer, Geneva, Ill., was born in Kenosha Wis., March 19, 1876, son of Frank and Caroline (Enter) Lennartz, and was taken by his par- ents to Geneva, Ill., in 1879, where he was

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

reared to manhood and educated in the city schools. In 1896 he became junior member of the grocery firm of Lennartz & Lennartz, now one of the leading business houses of the city. In 1901 he was elected City Treasurer of Ge- neva, and in 1903 is still holding that office. He is an active Republican, and is influential in local politics. Fraternally he belongs to the order of the Knights of Pythias. In 1900 he married Miss Grace Gould, of Geneva.

CHARLES E. LEWIS, manufacturer, Carpen- tersville, 111., was born in Sharon, Littlefield County, Conn., in 1847, and was reared to man- hood in the State of New York. He received his education in the public schools, and came to Illinois in 1865, establishing his home in Elgin. In 1870 he went to Kansas, where he spent six years as a pioneer. At the end of that period he returned to New York State, but later entered the employment of the Borden Con- densed Milk Company, with which he has been continuously connected to the present time (1903). For the last fifteen years he has been superintendent of the company's extensive plant at Carpentersville, III., and is recognized throughout the country as one of the best in- formed and most thoroughly practical men engaged in the business, being frequently called upon to aid in establishing and putting in operation the company's plants in different parts of the United States and Canada, and has traded largely in the company's interest. He is a Mason and a member of the Modern Wood- men of America.

CLARK A. LEWIS, editor and publisher, Batavia, Ill., born in Fort Wayne, Ind., May 5. 1841, there reared and educated in the city schools, and there learned the printer's trade. In 1860 he began publishing a paper at Ken- dallville, Ind., but soon enlisted in the Twelfth Indiana Volunteer Infantry. his regiment being mustered in at Indianapolis in May, 1861, and soon sent to the front. He served in Maryland and Virginia thirteen months, when his com- mand was discharged on account of expiration of service. He worked at his trade in Fort Wayne until 1868, when he went to Peoria, Ill., and worked on "The Daily Transcript"-ot that city until the following spring, when he came to Batavia and established the "Batavia News," of which he is still the editor and publisher. He is a Mason, a Modern Woodman, and is

conspicuous in the Grand Army of the Republic. In 1865 he married, at Fort Wayne, Ind., Miss Laura A. Barker, of Jefferson County, N. Y.

JAMES K. LEWIS, retired physician, St. Charles, Ill .; born in Onondaga County, N. Y., June 23, 1822; received his medical training in the Geneva Medical College (New York), graduating from that institution in 1846; came to St. Charles in 1852, where he remained in active practice until 1892; married, in 1847, Louise M. Ferguson, who died Feb. 14, 1903, leaving two children-Genevieve (who resides with her father) and John H., of DeKalb County, Ill.

D. B. LINCOLN.

D. B. LINCOLN, Superintendent Aurora Sil ver Plate Company, Aurora, born at Taunton, Mass., Jan. 26, 1844, son of Horatio and Lu- cinda (Field) Lincoln, received his education in the Taunton city schools, where he was study- ing when the Civil War broke out. He enlisted in August, 1862, in Company K, Thirty-third Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. This was his third enlistment, his father having twice taken him out of the service on account of his extreme youth. He served to the end of the war, being mustered out at Readville, Mass., in June, 1865. He was married Sept. 6, 1865, and immediately went into the Taunton Silver Plate

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

Company to thoroughly learn its business, re- maining with that concern until 1869, when he went to Brooklyn, N. Y., to take charge of the Adams & Hallock Factory, where he remained until 1875. The latter year he was engaged by I. J. Steane & Co., successors to the Taunton Silver Plate Company, to open up the business in that city. After a successful year the plant was removed from Taunton to New York where his employers kept him in charge until 1886, in the meantime buying the Albany Silver Plate Factory, which they removed to New York to take the place of their first plant destroyed by fire. In September, 1886, Mr. Lincoln came west and took charge of the Silver Plate Com- pany at Aurora, acting as its Superintendent, a position which he has held to the present time. Mr. Lincoln is a member of the G. A. R., and is Past Commander of Post No. 20, Aurora. He is now serving his third term as Chancellor of the local lodge, K. P., and is Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fifth Illinois Regiment of the order. He served as Alderman from the First Ward from 1892 to 1896, and was President of the Board of Public Works under Mayor Howard. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln have three children: Percy G., born in Taunton, now in business in Aurora; Carrie, the wife of Dr. A. H. Mc- Laughlin, of Aurora; and Emma V., the wife of Dr. M. D. Jones, of Chicago.

JOHN LINDEN, manufacturer, Aurora, Ill., born in Luxemburg, Germany, June 12, 1848, came with his parents to the United States in 1862, arriving in Aurora, Ill., on April 12 of the same year, and four days later began work in the J. G. Stolp Woolen Mill of that city. Mr. Linden was connected with this enterprise in various capacities until 1884, being promoted to boss carder in 1867, assistant superintendent in 1870 and superintendent in 1879, filling the latter position for five years, when he resigned and engaged in the plumbing and gas-fitting business at 36 Fox Street, Aurora. He was the first plumber on the Island, and on May 12, 1886, made the first tap to the city water-mains, the city water-works having been installed in 1884-5. Continuing in the plumbing and gas- fitting business until 1892, he then sold his establishment to Lake, Judd & Gillette, and on June 22, 1894, was appointed by Mayor J. C. Murphy first Superintendent of Sewers, Plumb- ing and Buildings of Aurora, a position he is holding at the present time (1904). Mr. Lin-

den is also interested in the Aurora Iron Works and the Linden Manufacturing Company, and was the organizer of the last named corpo- ration. As a stock-holder he is identified with three Aurora banks, and was one of the organ- izers of and a stock-holder in the first street railway company of that city. Mr. Linden has been a leading spirit in promoting many manu- facturing and business enterprises which have contributed largely to the building up of Aurora. He has taken an active part in poli- tics as a member of the Republican party. On June 22, 1870, he was married to Miss Lena Reckinger, and they live in a modern home at 102 Downer Place, one of the handsomest streets of the city.

JOHN W. LINDEN, merchant and member of the General Assembly, Aurora, Ill., was born in Luxemburg, Germany, Jan. 26, 1859, and was brought to this country by his parents in 1862. The family settled in Aurora, and there Mr. Linden was reared to manhood and educated in the local schools. Becoming connected as an apprentice with Stolp's Woolen Mills in Aurora when only eleven years of age, during the earlier years of his business career he had charge of the carding and spinning department of the mill. Since 1885 he has been engaged in the wholesale and retail liquor trade, and for a number of years has been one of the leaders of the Democratic party in Kane County. In 1891 he was elected a member of the Aurora Board of Aldermen, and has served continuously in that body up to the present time (1904). In 1902 he was elected a member of the Forty-third General Assembly, and is still a member of that body. As Chairman of the Democratic Sena- torial Committee his services to the party have been highly appreciated. In 1885 he married Miss Katherine Winkle, of Aurora.

ALEXANDER C. LITTLE, lawyer, Aurora, Ill., born in Rome, N. Y .. Jan. 18, 1838, son of John and Nancy ( Ray) Little, was educated in the home schools and at Antioch College, and came with his parents to Illinois in 1851, the family locating at Big Rock, Kane County. He studied medicine in Joliet and Aurora, gradu- ating from the medical department of the University of Iowa in 1858, then engaged in medical practice until 1862, when he enlisted as a private in Company K, One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and

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was a participant in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post, Missionary Ridge, Kene- saw Mountain, the siege of Vicksburg, and of Atlanta, Resaca and Decatur, Ga., as well as in many less important engagements. At the close of the war he was mustered out as Captain, and returning to Kane County began the study of law with Hon. Charles Wheaton, of Aurora, as his preceptor. He graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan, and was admitted to the bar in 1867. In 1875 he was elected City Attorney, was re-elected in 1877, in 1874-5 was Mayor of Aurora, and for more than thirty-five years has held a high position at the Kane County bar. In 1875 he married Miss Bonnie Snow, of Aurora.

JAMES C. LONG, merchant, Geneva, Ill., was born at Surry, Me., in 1845, a son of Robert and Betsy (Carr) Long, and was brought by his parents to Illinois in 1855, receiving his educa- tion chiefly in the Geneva public schools, and beginning work early in life in his father's store. In 1862, when only seventeen years of age, he enlisted in the Sixty-ninth Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, and put in three months' service in the war for the Union. In 1869 he became the junior member of the firm of R. Long & Son, of Geneva, and succeeded to the business which his father had established in 1880, and with which he has been connected, as boy and man, for over forty years. Mr. Long is actively connected with the Geneva Unita- rian church, of which his father was a liberal supporter. Mr. Long was married in 1889 to Miss Medora Welch, daughter of Rodney Welch, of Chicago.

ROBERT LONG (deceased), merchant, Ge- neva, Ill., born in Hallowell, Me., in 1803. was reared and educated in his native place. In 1828 he engaged in mercantile pursuits in Ban- gor, Me., where he lived for some years, when he removed to Ellsworth, in the same State, where he continued in trade until about 1853. In the latter year he received an appointment in the United States Treasury, which he filled under the administrations of Presidents Pierce and Buchanan. In 1855 his family removed to Geneva, Ill., and in 1860 Mr. Long established what is now the oldest store in that city, which he conducted until his death in 1888, in the meantime establishing a reputation as an upright merchant, and in all respects a worthy

citizen. In 1838 he was married to Miss Betsy S. Carr, of Ellsworth, Me.

SILAS LONG ( deceased ), physician; born at Shelburne, Franklin County, Mass., in 1783, obtained his education in the East and came to Big Rock Township, Kane County, where he began practice in 1840 and became one of the most widely known pioneers. He died Oct. 27, 1857; his wife, who was Matilda Stebbins, died in 1845. Mr. and Mrs. Long reared a family of ten children. Their son, Silas O. Long, phy- sician, was born in Shelburne, Mass., June 3, 1814; was a farmer in early life, and was the first of the family to come to Illinois. He visited Kane County in 1839 and selected the claims on which the family afterward located. After coming to Kane County he studied medi- cine and had a large practice for many years, succeeding his father in the profession. He died July 3, 1874. His wife was Miss Sarah Severance, who died in 1899. The second son of Dr. Long, Sr., was Edward R., born in Greenfield, Mass., Sept. 21, 1827; came with the family to Kane County in 1840 and settled on Government land, where he passed the remain- ing years of his life as a successful farmer and stock-raiser. Modest and retiring, he never sought public office, but aided in advancing educational interests and in the conduct of local affairs. For many years he was leader of the Baptist choir at Big Rock. He was married in 1854 to Miss Emma Dale, of Aurora.

GEORGE P. LORD, real-estate and loans, Elgin, Ill., was born in Le Roy, Genesee County, N. Y., March 26, 1819, son of William and Emily (Ely) Lord. His early boyhood passed on the farm, where he secured a public school educa- tion. He entered upon mercantile pursuits in Palmyra, N. Y., in his youth, and in 1839 went to New York City, where he was clerk for Arthur Tappen. Before coming west he was a partner in the mercantile house of Alfred Edwards & Co., of New York. Coming to Chi- cago in 1855 he was for ten years engaged in the grocery trade with Reynolds, Ely & Co., of that city; in 1866 became purchasing agent for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, a position he held for about a year, when he became business manager of the Elgin National Watch Company, remaining nine years during the formative period of that great corporation, which was then, as it is now, one of the great

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

manufactories of its kind in the world, turning out in 1903 more than ten million watches. Since retiring from the Watch Company, Mr. Lord has given his time to his private business, though still officially connected with several great institutions, such as the First National Bank of Elgin, and the Illinois Iron & Bolt Com- pany of Carpentersville, of each of which he is the President. The City of Elgin has an enduring monument of Mr. and Mrs. Lord's public spirit in Lord's Park, a sixty-acre tract, admirably adapted by nature for park purposes, which had been fitted up as a pleasure ground for the people. He is still giving it much care and attention. Mr. Lord has served the city as Mayor and the State as Trustee and Treasurer of the Illinois Hospital for the Insane, besides in the course of his long and busy life, having filled many other official positions.

CHARLES S. LOVELL.

CHARLES S. LOVELL, farmer and stock- raiser, Kaneville Ill., was born in Kaneville, Dec. 21, 1864, son of Sherman and Eliza (EI- liott ) Lovell. His education was secured in the public schools, with the addition of four terms at Sugar Grove High School. He was employed on the farm until 1888, when he was put in charge of the Kaneville County Line Creamery, retaining this position until 1894, when he bought a farm adjoining the town limits of

Kaneville on the southwest. Fraternally he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America and the Royal Neighbors. He was married Oct. 20, 1897, to Sarah Van Arsdale, and they have one daughter.

EDWAARD C. LOVELL.

EDWARD COULTAS LOVELL, son of Vin- cent Sellar and Lucy ( Smith) Lovell, was born in Chicago, July 18, 1842, and in 1844, was brought with his father's family to Elgin, Ill., where he resided until his death, Jan 6, 1902. His parents were of the very best pioneers. He was educated in the public schools of Elgin, at Elgin Academy, the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and at Leipsic. Germany, and was subsequently employed for five years as a teacher. During the Civil War he served as Adjutant of the One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, Captain of Company C, One Hundred and Fifty-third Illinois, and Inspector-General on the staff of Gen. N. A. M. Dudley. He read law in the office of Gen. John S. Wilcox; was City Attorney and Mayor of Elgin (as was also his younger brother, Vincent S. Lovell), and presided as Judge of the County Court from 1882 to 1890. On June 30, 1885, he married Miss Carrie G. Watres, of Scranton, Penn., and three daughters survive them. At the time of his death Judge Lovell was local attorney for the Chicago, Mil-

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waukee & St. Paul Railway Company; was a companion of the Loyal Legion and a Comrade of the G. A. R. He served as a Trustee of Elgin Academy; was President of the Board of Education and of the Public Library. In all respects he was an excellent man as well as an upright and enterprising citizen.

SHERMAN LOVELL, retired farmer, Kane- ville, Ill., born in Cortland County, N. Y., April 4, 1836, was educated in the public schools of his native State and came to Kane County, Ill., in 1856. He has devoted his life to farming, and about 1893, purchased a farm a half mile west of the village of Kaneville. He was married Feb. 28, 1859, to Miss Eliza Elliott, by whom he has had four children-three daughters and one son.

EDWIN W. LOUNSBURY, D. D., clergyman, Aurora, Ill., was born Oct. 22, 1841, at Rensse- laerville, N. Y., and was educated at Roches- ter in that State. His ordination took place in 1862, and he has held notable pastorates in Medina, N. Y., Battle Creek, Mich., twice at the First Church in Aurora, and at Canton and Dayton, Ohio. He is now Secretary of the American Baptist Missionary Union for Illinois, Indiana and Michigan. The honorary degree of D. D. was conferred upon him by Dennison University (Ohio), in 1893.

JOSIAH LYKE, farmer and stock-raiser, Kaneville, Ill., was born in Avoca, Steuben County, N. Y., March 18, 1842, and was educated in the local schools. In 1871 he came to Kane County, where he began farming on a place which he bought three miles west of the village of Kaneville. Mr. Lyke is an honored veteran of the Civil War, having enlisted Aug. 25, 1862, in the One Hundred Sixty-first New York Vol- unteer Infantry, and served three years, two months and two days, being mustered out Oct. 27, 1865. He participated in many of the severe battles of the war, and now belongs to the Aurora Post, G. A. R. He was married Dec. 31, 1868, to Miss Caroline Gray, and six children-three sons and three daughters-have been the fruit of this union.

WILLIAM F. LYNCH, County Clerk, Elgin, Kane County, Ill., was born

in Elgin Ill., Nov. 20, 1865, where he was reared and educated in the city schools. His first ex-

perience as a business man was in the grocery trade, in which he was engaged in early man- hood. In 1888 he was elected Town Collector, also served in the postoffice for twelve years, and in 1902 was chosen County Clerk of Kane County on the Republican ticket. From the first he has taken an active part in political affairs, and is regarded as one of the influential young Republicans of the County.

JAMES MAIR ( deceased ), merchant, Batavia, Ill., was born in Devonshire, Eng., July 3, 1835, a son of James and Ann (Snow) Mair. He came to the United States in 1857, and was engaged in the boot and shoe trade in Batavia, Ill., until the time of his death, Dec. 17, 1900. During the later years of his life he was en- gaged in manufacturing, and for some years was Vice-President of the Challenge Wind Mill Company. He was a Director of the First National Bank of Batavia, and for several years was a member of the Batavia Board of Aldermen, and also held other local positions. In 1860 he married Miss Susan Buckingham, also of English birth and training, who still survives, living in Batavia.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 162

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