Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 173

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

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BAXTER O. SKINNER, farmer, Plato Town- ship, Kane County, born in Westport, Essex County, N. Y., Nov. 15, 1834, son of Oren and Charlotte (Cady) Skinner; grew up and was educated in his native community; in 1853 came to Illinois with his father's family, who set- tled near Plato Center, Plato Township, Kane County, where the elder Skinner lived until his death in 1861. His widow, who survived until 1881, also died on the old Skinner homestead. Baxter O. Skinner took his father's place as manager of the family interests, and, until his recent retirement from active business, has been engaged in farming and stock-raising. He still owns the old homestead, which has been in family possession for more that a half a cen- tury. For sixteen years he served as Deputy Sheriff of Kane County, and has held various town offices. Besides Mr. Skinner, the only member of this family surviving in 1903 was Mrs. A. W. Hall, whose farm adjoins that of her brother.

PROF. GEORGE N. SLEIGHT, educator, Elgin, Ill., born in Newark, N. Y., Oct. 17, 1869; educated in the Newark Union High School, Williams College ( Williamstown, Mass.), the Albany State Normal School (Albany, N. Y.) and the University of Chicago. Mr. Sleight came to Elgin in 1898, where he has since filled the position of principal of the Elgin Academy. He was married in 1894 to Miss Ada M. Collins, of Chicago.

BENJAMIN SMITH (deceased), inventor and manufacturer, was born in Ridgefield, Fair- field County, Conn., Jan. 12, 1815, and in October, 1837, removed to Chicago, where for a time he was engaged in the grocery and pro- vision business. In 1838 he was married to Miss Rachel Van Nortwick, of Batavia, Ill. In 1846 he purchased a patent for a reaper and built his first machines in Chicago, but soon removed to Batavia, where he manufactured machines for several years, in the meanwhile making some valuable improvements. In 1857 he suf- fered financial loss, and in 1865 he returned to Chicago and there resided until his death in 1891, at the age of seventy-six years.

B. F. SMITH, banker, Aurora, was born in Reading, Penn., Feb. 16, 1850, and when four years old was brought to Freeport, Ill., where he grew to manhood and received his education

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

in the city schools. He began his business ca- reer as clerk in a Freeport drug-store, but was later employed in a patent medicine house, where he became shipping clerk. In 1879 he came to Aurora to enter the service of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, where he became head of a department. In 1902 he retired from employment with the railroad to become Vice-President of the Aurora Trust and Savings Bank, of which he was one of the or- ganizers. In 1881 Mr. Smith was married to Miss Carrie Waterman, daughter of George G. and Mary Waterman, of Aurora.

DAVID SMITH , pioneer. farmer and vet- eran of the Civil War, Sugar Grove, Kane County, Ill., born in Rutland County, Vt., Aug. 5, 1839; when only five years of age was brought to Illinois by his parents, who made their home on a farm in Sugar Grove, Kane County. His father, Ephraim Smith, a millwright by trade, followed farming in Illinois, and in his day was well known throughout the southern part of the county. His death occurred about 1880. David Smith was reared to maturity in Sugar Grove Township, educated in the local schools, and became a carpenter and joiner. In August, 1862, he enlisted in the One Hundred Twenty- fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was mustered into service on Sept. 10th, following. His regiment became a part of the Western army, and he participated in all the campaigns of the Army of the Tennessee, including the siege of Vicksburg, where he lost his right arm, and was consequently discharged from the ser- vice. Mr. Smith returned to Kane County, and was elected Sheriff in 1866. After the expira- tion of his term of office he engaged in farming, and has been active to the present time (1904). He has served as Assessor and Collector of Taxes in Sugar Grove Township, and is now a member of the Board of School Trustees. In 1871 he married Miss Harriet L. Van Dervolgan, of Winfield, DuPage County, Ill. Their living children are: Lucinda P., Allen L., Harry V., and Hallam C.

EDWARD M. SMITH, in real-estate, loan and insurance business, Batavia, Ill., born in Ba- tavia, Dec. 14, 1867, son of Edward S. and Jane ( Mallory) Smith; trained to the banking busi- ness, but later established his present business in Batavia.

EDWARD S. SMITH, ex-Postmaster ot Batavia, born at Moriah, Essex County, N. Y., March 20, 1832; educated in the public schools and academy of his native village, and was trained to mercantile pursuits; came to Batavia in 1853, and first engaged in the grain and pro- duce trade and later conducted a cooperage busi- ness; appointed Postmaster of Batavia in 1861 by President Lincoln, and through successive re- appointments held that position for twenty-five years, in the meantime becoming one of the best known men in the postal service in Illinois. He was married in 1861 to Miss Jane Mallory of New York State, who died in Batavia in 1902.

GEORGE D. SMITIL.

GEORGE D. SMITH, farmer and dairyman. Virgil Township, Kane County, born Nov. 25. 1842, in Virgil Township, Kane County, Ill., son of Daniel and Eliza ( Dearborn) Smith, and received his education in the district school. Sept. 18, 1861, he enlisted in Company A. Eighth Illinois Volunteer Cavalry and during his service in the Union army participated in over one hundred engagements, was three times severely wounded and finally discharged Sept. 8, 1864. In 1872 he bought a store at DeKalb, which he conducted until 1879, when he sold it and returned to his farm, where he still resides. As may be presumed from his record as a sol-

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

dier, Mr. Smith is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic. He was married, June 5, 1867, to Miss Henrietta Richmond, daughter of Moses C. and Susan H. (Garfield ) Richmond, and their union has been blessed by the birth of three children-two girls and one boy. One daughter is now deceased.

JAMES R. SMITH, retired merchant, Dundee, 111., born in Dundee, July 4, 1839, son of John M. and Mary ( Rayner) Smith, was educated in the local schools and trained to mercantile pursuits. In 1858 he opened a business estab lishment in his own name and was in trade in Dundee for about twenty years. Since his re- tirement from active business he has given much attention to real-estate and other interests in Kane County. He has been a member of the Kane County Board of Supervisors continu- ously since 1883, and at the present time (1903) is serving as its President, having filled that position since 1898. He has also been President of the Board of Trustees of Dundee, and has filled other important local positions. In Masonry he is prominent, being a member of the Dundee Lodge, No. 190.

ORAMEL H. SMITH ( deceased), contractor and merchant, Carpentersville, Ill., was born March 31, 1848, at Cabot, Vt., and came to Kane County, Ill., in 1874, where he remained unti! his death, March 20, 1903. Descended from poor and hard-working parents, his boyhood was one of few pleasures and much hard work. Leav- ing home at the age of thirteen years, he drifted westward, and, after two or three years spent in working on farms in New York, came to Illinois, where, after teaching school for a time, he learned the carpenter's trade, and became a contractor and builder. In 1878, in company with J. A. Carpenter, he engaged in the lumber and coal business at Carpentersville, which he followed until his death. Successful in all his undertakings, the legacy of material things left to his family was not large, his entire life having been spent for others; and this, con- tinued unfalteringly through years of intense bodily suffering such as few men would have patiently endured, stamped him as a man of high character and genuine nobility.

ORVILLE A. SMITH, merchant, Geneva, Ill., born in Orange County, N. Y., August 15, 1845, reared and educated in the Empire State. and

came west in 1874; located in Kane County in 1876 and conducted a farm until 1889, when he bought the furniture and undertaking business of S. N. Cooper, to which he added a stock of hardware in 1900, and has since been engaged in this business. He was married in 1881 to Miss Mary McFarland, of St. Charles, and their children are: Helen (who died in infancy ) and A. Warren, who is now (1903) a student at Lewis Institute, Chicago.

P. Y. SMITH, lawyer, Aurora, Ill., was born on a farm in Batavia Township, Kane County, March 20, 1873, son of George F. and Mary ( Loverin ) Smith. The family removed to Aurora in 1882, and Mr. Smith secured his early education in the schools of that city, graduating from the West Aurora High School in 1891, and finishing his academic studies at the University of Wisconsin. After reading law under the pre- ceptorship of Newell F. Nichols, of Aurora, and taking a course in the Chicago College of Law, he was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Illinois in February, 1897. Shortly after this he became a member of the law firm of Nichols & Sears, which then became Nichols, Sears & Smith. Since the death of Mr. Nichols in 1899, the firm has continued as Sears & Smith, with a recognized standing as one of the leading law firms of Aurora. Mr. Smith was married in 1898 to Miss Alice M. Allen, daughter of Edward C. Allen, and granddaugh- ter of Edward R. Allen, one of the old pioneer settlers of Aurora, and a very prominent citizen in his day.

WILLIAM J. SMITH, merchant, Batavia, III., born in Chowan County, N. C., July 21, 1831; learned the shoemaker's and carpenter's trades in his boyhood, and came to Batavia, Ill., in 1882, where he became senior member of the pioneer furniture and undertaking firm of Smith & Crane. He was married in 1857 to Miss Laura A. Doing, of Westville, Ind.

WILLIAM R. SMITH, merchant, Geneva, Ill., was born in Norfolk, Conn., Jan. 25, 1832, son of Rufus and Hannah ( Lucas) Smith and grandson of Corkins Smith, a veteran of the Revolutionary War. The first eight years of his life were spent in Connecticut, when the family removed to New York, and his education was received chiefly in the public schools of that State. He mastered the jeweler's trade, which

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

he followed in New York until 1878, then came to Illinois, and for thirteen years was engaged as traveling salesman for the jewelry house of Trask & Plain, of Aurora. In 1891 he estab- lished a jewelry house in Geneva, and has since been in business in that city. Mr. Smith has been a member of the Mason fraternity since 1863, and with his wife belongs to the Eastern Star, and also to the Episcopal church. Mr. Smith was married Nov. 27, 1898, to Miss Dema Reser, whose parents were pioneer settlers in Plato Township, Kane County.

EPHRAIM SNOOKS, merchant, Carpenters- ville, Kane County, Ill., born at Algonquin, III., July 26, 1861, son of Judson and Martha (Sey- mour) Snooks; obtained his education in the public schools of Algonquin; established a hard- ware and grocery store at Carpentersville in 1883, and has conducted a successful business to the present time (1903). He is a member of the Masonic Order and affiliated with Dundee Lodge No. 190; married in 1896 Miss Annie Schwable, of Carpentersville.

CHAUNCEY SNOW ( deceased), pioneer set- tler, born in Keene, N. H., in 1812, and died in Sugar Grove, Kane County, Ill .. Dec. 28, 1861; came west in early manhood and located on a farm in Sugar Grove Township, Kane County, where he spent the remainder of his life; married in 1851 Miss Ruth Thompson, who survived him until 1887. Mrs. Snow was one of the noted pioneer women of Sugar Grove Township, and aided materially in founding the Sugar Grove Normal and Industrial Institute, and took an active part in charitable and benev- olent work.

FRANK W. SNOW, Sugar Grove, Ill., born in the town where he now resides, Jan 18, 1854; began his business career in the village of Sugar Grove in 1884 and has since operated a general repair shop in that village, also being interested to some extent in the carriage and wagon trade. He was married in 1891 to Miss Elizabeth Petty, who was well known in this portion of Kane County as an educator prior to her marriage, being at one time principal of Sugar Grove Normal and Industrial Institute.

FRANCIS C. SNOW, pioneer settler, Batavia. Ill., born in Devonshire, Eng., June 25, 1826; canie to the United States in 1853, locating in

Batavia in 1854, which has since been his home; engaged in contracting and building for several years, and then became interested in manu- facturing; since 1870 he has given his attention to investments; has been a member of the Baptist church of Batavia for over forty years; married in 1850 Miss Eliza' Duvie, who died in 1853, their only living child being Thomas Snow, one of the leading manufacturers of the Fox River Valley.

GILBERT B. SNOW, manufacturer, Elgin, Ill., born at Sugar Grove, Ill., March 5, 1856, educated in the Aurora schools, and obtained his first business experience with the Deering Harvester Company, Chicago, where he was em- ployed for some time in the experimental department. Returning to Sugar Grove in 1887, he devoted five years to experimental work of a mechanical nature, and in 1892 became Super- intendent of the Elgin Wind Power & Pump Company, and in 1897 was made Secretary and Treasurer of that enterprise, a position he still holds. Mr. Snow is the inventor of all the patents issued to the latter company. He was married in 1893 to Mrs. Mae ( Hunter) Yarwood, of Elgin.

PERLEY B. SNOW (deceased), pioneer of Sugar Grove Township. Kane County, born in Keene, N. H., Dec. 31, 1800, son of Deacon John and Esther ( Balch) Snow, was reared and edu- cated in his native place. Having given his attention chiefly to farming, in 1839 he came west, and purchasing Government land in Sugar Grove Township, became one of the very early settlers in that region. His farming operations were successfully carried on. A Democrat in early life, he became a Free-Soiler, and later a Republican. After retiring from active farming in 1868, for two years he lived in Aurora, when he removed to DeKalb, where he died in 1876. In 1832 he married Lois H. Gurler, in Keene. N. H., and their children were: Mrs. Esther Peirce, Grinnell, lowa; Cynthia O., DeKalb, Ill .; Mrs. G. Terwilliger, DeKalb, Ill .; and Mrs. Melissa Hatch, Aurora, Ill. Their only son. Byron, served in the Union Army during the Civil War, and died in DeKalb, in 1897.

THOMAS SNOW ( deceased ), manufacturer, Batavia, Ill., was born in Devonshire, England, Jan. 19, 1851, the son of F. C. Snow, who sailed for the United States with his family in 1853.

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The death of Mrs. Snow, which occurred during the voyage, caused young Thomas to be sent back to England shortly afterward, and he ob- tained his early education in the public schools of his native country. In 1865 he returned to this country, rejoined his father at Batavia, Ill., and completed his education in the public schools of Aurora and at the Jennings Seminary. In 1882 he was made Secretary and Treasurer of the Challenge Wind-Mill Company, a newly organized Batavia corporation, and in 1887 be- came President and Treasurer of the Company, finally becoming the head of one of the largest manufacturing industries in the Fox River Val- ley. In 1896 Mr. Snow was made President and Treasurer of the W. H. Howell Company, Geneva, manufacturers of sad-irons; and was also President and Treasurer of the Snow Manu- facturing Company, Batavia, manufacturers of stump pullers; was also President and Trea- surer of the Batavia Wind-Mill Company, and President of the First National Bank of Batavia. In 1901 he was elected Mayor of the city of Batavia, serving one term. In 1878 Mr. Snow was married to Miss Mary Thomle, born in Batavia, and to them four sons were born: Ralph L. (deceased), Thomas, Jr., who became President and Treasurer of the Challenge Wind- Mill Company at the time of his father's death. Frank and Albert E. Mr. Snow died April 25, 1903.

THOMAS SOLOMON, farmer, Burlington Township, Kane County, born in Cornwall, England, August 27, 1823; came to America in 1850, and located in Burlington Township in 1854, where he purchased a farm which he per- sonally conducted until 1893; served as Justice of the Peace, School Trustee and Assessor; mar- ried in March, 1845, Miss Emma Pierce, of England.

C. SPALDING, merchant, Elburn, 111., born Nov. 12, 1836, at Ypsilanti, Mich., son of Caldwell and Beulah (Lynn) Spalding, came with his parents to Kane County in 1844, where he secured his education in the public schools, supplemented by a year's attendance at the academy. He owns the family homestead, two and a half miles southeast of Elburn, and was engaged in farming until 1890, giving much attention meanwhile to dairying. In 1890 he bought the interest of Mr. Eldin in the firm of Eldin & Cline, merchants, at Elburn, and the

firm has since been Spalding & Cline. He was married Jan. 1, 1863, to Helen M. Barker, daugh- ter of Jabez and Sarah ( White) Barker. Mr. Spalding is a Mason, belonging to the Com- mandery at Sycamore, and is also a member of the Modern Woodmen of America. For ten years he was Township School Treasurer, for five years Town Assessor and for fifteen years Supervisor-being still in the latter office.

JOSEPH A. SPALDING (deceased), born at Pomfret, Windsor County, Vt., Nov. 9, 1800, was taken by his father to Hartland, Vt., in 1803, where he resided until 1849, when he moved to the West, settling on a farm at Udina, Kane County, Ill. After living there some years he finally sold his farm to remove to Aurora, where he lived until the death of his wife, when he went to live with his son, Charles W., at Topeka, Kan., dying there Feb. 20, 1887.

CHARLES SOUDERS.

CHARLES SOUDERS, farmer, Blackberry Township, Kane County, was born Nov. 30, 1848, the son of John and Mary ( Lance) Souders, who were among the first white settlers ill their section of the State-the latter being the first white woman to locate in Blackberry Town- ship. Charles Souders obtained his education in the district schools of his native township

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and has been a life-long farmer. He has served his township as Road Commissioner, and is one of its most highly respected citizens. ( See sketch of John Souders.)

JOHN SOUDERS.

JOHN SOUDERS (deceased), pioneer settler and farmer, Blackberry Township, Kane Coun- ty, was born Dec. 10, 1807, came to Illinois in the early '30s and in December, 1835, married Mary Lance, daughter of William and Margaret A. Lance. Mr. Souders became a prosperous farmer, and died July 27, 1891. His wife, Mary (Lance) Souders, who was born Sept. 9, 1814. died March 16, 1904, in her ninetieth year, hav- ing spent the last years of her life on the old homestead with her son Charles Souders. (See sketch of Willian Lance and Charles Souders.)

ANNIE W. SPENCER, physician, Batavia, Ill., born in West Chicago (then known as Turner Junction), April 1, 1859, daughter of William M. Whitney; secured her academic education in the schools of Naperville and Hins- dale, Ill., and was graduated from Hahnemann Medical College, Chicago, in 1896. In 1882 she married Dr. E. S. B. Spencer, who prac- ticed medicine in New York prior to his death in 1891. After her husband's death, Dr. Annie W. Spencer came west, and began hier medical

career in Batavia the year of her graduation. For four years thereafter she was Assistant physician at the Bellevue Place Sanitarium, but has since given all her attention to private practice. She is an occasional contributor to medical journals, and belongs to the American Institute of Homeopathy; in June, 1903, was elected Second Vice-President of the Institute, and has been chairman of the bureau of pedal- ogy for the same year; is also a member of the Illinois State Homeopathic Association.

MARCUS O. SOUTHWORTH, jurist, Aurora, Ill., was born in Mission, LaSalle County, Ill., April 1, 1841, and received his education in the local schools, Batavia Academy, and the literary department of Beloit College, from which he graduated in 1863. He graduated from the law department of the University of Michigan in

MARCUS O. SOUTHWORTHI.

1871, and the same year began the practice of law in Aurora. In 1894 he was elected County Judge of Kane County, an office he has held to the present time (1904). In politics he is a Republican, and for twenty years has been a member of the Aurora Board of Education, of which he is now the President. He is also a director of the National Bank of Aurora.

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

BARTEN E. SPERRY, manufacturer, Ba- tavia, Ill., born at Malone, N. Y., in 1852; educated in the schools of the Empire State, and came west in 1867; became associated with his father in a general foundry and machine shop at Batavia in 1868, but in 1880 this plant was removed to North Aurora. Mr. Sperry has been President of the corporation since 1897.

CHARLES E. SPILLARD, merchant, Elgin, Ill., born in the city where he now resides, Oct. 11. 1867, son of John and Margaret (Anglin) Spillard; educated in the public schools of Elgin, and trained to merchandising; estab- lished himself in the clothing and furnishing goods business in Elgin in 1897, and has since built up an extensive trade in that line.

A. H. SPROWLS, druggist, Elgin, Ill., born in Washington County, Penn, April 29, 1861; reared and educated in his native State, and in 1889 graduated from the Chicago College of Pharmacy; came to Elgin and opened a drug store at 229 National Street, the firm being known as Sprowls & Morrow; at the present time (1903) is interested as a partner in three drug stores in Elgin, besides being sole propri- etor of a, drug store on Chicago Street. He was married in June, 1892, to Miss Ellen Riesenor- dan, of Elgin.

EDWIN F. STAFFORD, Civil War veteran, Batavia, Ill., born in Chautauqua County, N. Y., March 17, 1833; came to Illinois with the family of Marvin P. Houck, in 1843, and Batavia has since been his home. On August 6, 1862, he enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and was commissioned First Lieutenant, serving in the defense of his country until Sept. 16, 1865. Lieutenant Stafford was promoted to Captain at Vicksburg in 1863, and was mustered out of the service with that rank. Returning to Ba tavia after the war, he has been in business in that city with the exception of one year spent in California and one year in the lead mining dis- trict of Southwestern Missouri. He was married in 1857 to Miss Sarah E. Parker, of Montgomery County, Mo.

THOMAS STANTON, Batavia, Ill., was born in the city where he now resides, July 1, 1853, son of Patrick and Sabina Stanton. He grew to manhood in his native city, and obtained his

education in the East Batavia schools. In early manhood he engaged in business in Batavia, and for several years has been an extensive dealer in molding sand, marketing his com- modity mainly in Chicago. Mr. Stanton is the owner of extensive sand beds at North Aurora, and also has farming interests at the same place. He has served as Highway Commis- sioner, Street Commissioner ( Batavia), and at the present time (1903) is a member of the Batavia Board of Aldermen. He was married in 1880 to Miss Mary Quinlan, of Batavia.

CARLTON E. STARRETT.

CARLTON E. STARRETT, M. D., physician and surgeon, Elgin, Ill., born in Alna, Lincoln County, Me., son of David and Sarah (Chad- wick) Starrett, came west with his parents in his early boyhood, was reared and educated in Chicago, and Wheaton College, Wheaton, Ill., where he graduated, receiving the degree of M. A. in 1887. In 1884 he graduated from Bennett Medical College, Chicago, and during the fol- lowing year did editorial work on the "Chicago Medical Times." In 1886 he made his home in Elgin, where he won a very flattering patron- age. He took post-graduate work in Rush Medi- cal College at Chicago, and in 1893 was given the Doctor's degree by that institution. In Ben- nett College he was Assistant Professor of Phys-

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iology in 1884, Demonstrator of Chemistry in 1885, Professor of Materia Medica and Thera- peutics during the years 1888 and 1889; in 1887 he was Professor of Chemistry in Wheaton College, and also Professor of Physiology and later Professor of Special Therapeutics in the Chicago College of Ophthalmology and one of its Trustees; President of the Cook County Patho logical Society, of which he was one of the organizers; a member of the National Associa- tion of Military Surgeons; a Fellow of the American Academy, the Chicago Press Club, and of various medical societies. In 1890 he saw service in the Southwest in Indian warfare. Since 1890 Dr. Starrett has been in the State military service, during the Spanish-American War served as Assistant Surgeon of the Third Illinois Volunteer Infantry and winning dis- tinction in the West Indies, on his return was offered an appointment in the Philippine expedition but declined. He still retains his connection with the Third Regiment. At the meeting of the Spanish-American Veterans, at Springfield, in 1902, he was chosen Surgeon- General of Illinois. In 1895 Dr. Starrett spent several months with the British forces on the river Nile. His family consists of his wife, Jessie L., daughter of Dr. H. K. Whitford, one of the best known physicians of the State, and three children, Carl, Kathleen and David.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 173

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