Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 174

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

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JOHN N. STAUDT (deceased ), pioneer mer- chant and druggist, Aurora, Ill., born near Frankfort-on-the-Main, Germany, June 27, 1827, was left an orphan at an early age, and was reared and educated by an uncle, who gave him thorough training as a druggist. Mr. Staudt came to the United States while still a young man, and was employed at his profession in Buffalo until early in the '50s, when he went to Chicago to take a position in a drug store of that city. After a time he was employed by the same firm at Naperville, and in 1859, in company with J. H. Karl, opened a drug store in Aurora. The two remained together for twelve years, when Mr. Staudt assumed sole charge, while he trained his two sons as competent druggists. They have succeeded to the business under the firm name of Staudt Brothers, and for more than forty years their establishment has been located on Broadway. Mr. Staudt died Aug. 1, 1885, and is remembered as one of the honorable and earnest business men who did much to promote the growth of

Aurora as a solid and conservative business place. Mr. Staudt married Nellie Carpenter Guild in 1859. Her father, Rockwell Guild, was one of the very early ttlers Downers Grove. To this marriage were born four chil- dren now living: Louis C., Aurora; Albert J., Philadelphia; Nellie M. and Fred H., Aurora.

LOUIS C. STAUDT, merchant, Aurora, Ill., was born in the city where he now resides, May 5, 1861, son of John N. Staudt, whose sketch appears in this volume, was educated in the Aurora city schools and the Chicago College of Pharmacy; engaged in the drug business with his father in Aurora in 1885, and succeeded to the business in company with his brother, Alfred J. Staudt, as head of the firm of Staudt Brothers. He is identified with the banking in- terests of Aurora as a director of the Old Second National Bank, and is President of the Improvement Building & Loan Association. He married in 1893 Miss Anna Allen, daughter of Edward R. Allen, a pioneer merchant and banker.

HENRY STEARNS, farmer, Blackberry Township, Kane County, born in Brattleboro, Vt., in 1795; reared and educated in the Green Mountain State; came to Kane County, Ill., in 1844, where he resided for many years, later re- moving to lowa, but afterwards returned to Batavia, where he passed the remainder of his life, dying in 1878. His wife, whose maiden name was Emily Church, was also a native of Vermont and died in Batavia in 1884.

REV. C. STEEGE, Evangelical Lutheran min- ister, Dundee, Ill., born in Germany, August 14, 1841: came to America with his parents when nve years of age, locating first at Elk Grove, Cook County, Ill., graduated from the Concordia Seminary (St. Louis) in 1863, and entered the ministry the same year; came to Dundee in 1870. Rev. Steege was married Aug. 2, 1864, to Miss Mary Wagner, of Adrian, Mich.

JACOB STEFFES, farmer, Virgil, Kane Coun- ty, was born in Germany in February, 1843, and came to Kane County, Ill., in 1866, where he bought a farm two miles southwest of Virgil postoffice. He has devoted himself mainly to the cultivation of oats and corn. Mr. Steffes belongs to the German Catholic church. He was married April 12, 1872, to Miss Mary Reu-

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

land and of this union have been born nine children-five boys and four girls. Two sons and one daughter are now deceased.

WILEY W. STEPHENS, President Stephens- Adamson Manufacturing Company, Aurora, Kane County, Ill., born at Altona, Ill., Oct. 12, 1867, and, when two years of age, removed with his parents to Gowrie, Iowa, where he attended school until 1880. His first business engage- ment was with William Claus, in a general store at Gowrie, where he remained until 1886, when he removed to Chicago to accept a position with the Webster Manufacturing Company of that city, remaining with this establishment in va- rious capacities until 1896, having charge of the city sales department for five years previous to the latter date. Severing his connection with this company in the latter year, he engaged in the machinery business under the firm name of W. W. Stephens & Co., the venture proving very successful. In 1898 the Webster Manu- facturing Company purchased his entire busi- ness, and he returned to that company as stock- holder, Vice-President and Director. In 1901 he removed to Aurora, and with Frederick G. Adamson of Chicago established the Stephens- Adamson Manufacturing Company, of which he is now President. This company manufactures a complete line of power-transmitting, elevat- ing and conveying machinery, and their plant is one of the most complete in the United States for the manufacture of this class of machinery. Mr. Stephens is Secretary of the Fox River Valley Manufacturing Association, having head- quarters at Aurora, and is also a member of the Union League Club of Chicago. In 1892 he was married to Frances S. Salisbury, daugh- ter of Leroy Salisbury, a merchant of Chicago.

SAMUEL STERLING (deceased ), pioneer. Geneva, Ill., born in Connecticut; was reared and educated in his native State, and removed to New York, where he married Cornelia Lat- bruf, also Connecticut born. They became pioneers in Michigan as well as Illinois, set- tling in the former State prior to 1830, and removing to Kane County, Ill., four years later. The farm, which was their home near Geneva for many years and where they died, is now the home of their grandson, John S. Moore. It was bought directly from the Government by Mr. Sterling. and there he erected the first house in Geneva, and constructed the first dam

across Fox River for water-power. Mrs. Ster- ling was the first teacher in Geneva. Their farm was a notable country home in their day, and they there reared a family of three chil- dren. Mr. Sterling died August 30, 1871, at the home of his son-in-law, J. B. Moore, Sr., in Grundy County, 111.

THOMAS STERRICKER (deceased), farmer, Elgin, Township, Kane County, was born May 20, 1818, in Yorkshire, Eng., came to Canada, where he lived for five years, and then moved to Otsego County, N. Y., and made his home there until the spring of 1852. The latter year he sought a home in Illinois, and purchased a farm two and a half miles southwest of Elgin. He was married Dec. 25, 1840, to Elizabeth Fitzgerald, born in Otsego County, N. Y., Oct. 24, 1821, and who became the mother of four children: Irving W., Mary E., William H. H., and Alice J .- the latter the only child now living. Mr. Sterricker died March 2, 1900.

WILLIAM H. STERRICKER.

WILLIAM H. STERRICKER, farmer, Elgin Township, Kane County, was born Nov. 16, 1846, in Otsego County, N. Y., and was brought by his parents to Kane County, Ill., when six years of age. His education was secured in the pub- lic schools and Elgin Academy, and in his man-

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

hood he worked at farm labor. From 1889 until the time of his death he was Highway Commis- sioner and greatly improved the roads in his district; from 1890 he was Supervisor. He died Feb. 2, 1898.

CHARLES C. STEVENS (deceased), former druggist, Batavia. Ill., was born at Beatyestown, N. J., Nov. 18, 1828, the son of Robert and Clarissa (Carter) Stevens, was reared and edu- cated in his native State, and in 1855 came west locating at Geneva, Ill., where he was engaged in the hardware trade up to the date of the Civil War. In September, 1861, he en- listed in the Thirty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was organized at Camp Ham- mond near Aurora, but later was transferred to the Fifty-second Illinois, also a Kane County regiment, in which he served during its period of enlistment up to 1864, when he entered the Commissary Department, remaining until the close of the war. He then engaged in the drug business at Batavia, in which he continued until his death, which occurred Feb. 4, 1903. Mr. Stevens was united in marriage in 1858 to Miss Mary S. Wells, daughter of Capt. C. B. Wells, of Geneva.

THOMAS STEWART, miller, St. Charles, Ill., is a native of Montreal, Canada, where he was born April 8, 1838, and where he received his early education. In 1862 he came to Rock- ford, Ill., and was engaged there as a miller for some six years. In 1868 he assisted in the establishment of the firm of Stewart Brothers, millers, at Elgin, Ill., and remained in that city until 1884; then removed to St. Charles, where he had bought the old Fredenhagens Mill, and carried it on until its destruction by fire in 1895. The mill was rebuilt, and is now leased to the Crown Electrical Company. For a num- ber of years Mr. Stewart has leased and operated the old Hains Mills, one of St. Charles' oldest landmarks. In Elgin he served as Alder- man four years. He was reared a Presbyterian, but is now a member of the Methodist Church. He was married Jan. 22, 1867, to Miss Martha McClenathan, of Montreal.

HON. JOHN STEWART, farmer, lumber dealer and legislator, Elburn, Ill., was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Aug. 10, 1825, son of Thomas and Jane Stewart. The father, Thomas Stewart, was a native of Inverkip,

Renfrewshire, Scotland, born Dec. 22, 1797, and coming to Illinois in 1851, located on a farm in Kane County, where he passed the remainder of his life. John Stewart, the subject of this sketch, remained under the parental roof until twenty-two years of age, meanwhile enjoying

JOHN STEWART.

such educational advantages as the schools of those early days afforded. In 1848 he located at St. Charles, Ill., but shortly afterwards re- moved to Wausau, Marathon County, Wis .. where he engaged in the lumber trade with his brother, Alexander Stewart, and where he is still largely interested in the same business, as well as in California, though making his home in Illinois. Some years ago Mr. Stewart purchased land near Elburn, in Campton Town- ship, where he has since resided, and his estate at the present time embraces a farm of 1,000 acres of excellent land. He is also a stock- holder in the Bank of John Stewart & Co., at St. Charles, Ill., and the owner of banking interests at Wausau, Wis., and Gering, Neb. In 1884 Mr. Stewart was elected Representative in the Illinois Legislature, was re-elected in 1886, and again in 1898, serving three terms. During his term of service, he was Chairman of the Committee on Claims; also a member of the Committee of Appropriations to Public Char-

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

ities, and the Penitentiary Committee. Mr. Stewart was an earnest Republican, and his period of service in the General Assembly em- braced some of the most vigorously contested struggles that have ever occurred in that body, including the long contest which resulted in the election of Gen. John A. Logan to the United States Senate, for a third term during the ses- sion of 1885, and the election of the late Charles B. Farwell as Logan's successor, two years later. On Oct. 20, 1857, Mr. Stewart was married to Martha A. Thomas, daughter of William and Eliza (Burt) Thomas, natives of Massachusetts. Mr. and Mrs. Stewart have been the parents of five children, viz .: Thomas B .. born Sept. 28, 1858; Eliza, born Feb. 14, 1861; Mary E., born Dec. 30, 1864, died Dec. 17, 1866; Mattie, born Jan. 4, 1867; and Nellie L., born May. 22, 1873. About May 1, 1904, Mr. Stewart returned from an extended tour around the world, then being in his 79th year. For many years he has been an extensive traveler, both in his own country and abroad.

THOMAS B. STEWART.

THOMAS B. STEWART, leading business man and banker, Aurora, Kane County, Ill., was born in Campton Township, Kane County, Sept. 28, 1858, the son of John and Martha (Thomas) Stewart, who were respectively of

Scotch and New England ancestry. His father, who was a native of New Brunswick, came to Kane County in 1848, and here the son received his educational training in the schools of E !- burn and Geneva, being meanwhile trained to life as a farmer. He gave his attention mainly to this business and to stock-raising until 1899, when, in company with his father and E. F. Goodell, he bought out the banking house of Bowman, Warne & Stewart, at St. Charles, an institution in which his father had been inter- ested for many years. The name of the firm then became John Stewart & Co., and Thomas B. Stewart became principal manager of the business, although for several years previous he had been connected with the management of the St. Charles bank as representative of his father's interest. The Stewart banking house, although not the oldest in Kane County, is one of those most widely known for its stability and approved business methods. In 1900 Mr. Stewart removed to Aurora, which has since been his home. He is closely identified with important business interests throughout Kane County. In 1884 he was united in marriage with Miss Abbie Vanderhoof, daughter of Levi and Esther ( Terry) Vanderhoof, of Campton Township, Kane County, and they have two children, Esther and John. Mr. Stewart's po- litical affiliations have for many years been with the Republican party, and for twenty years he has been a member of the County Central Committee.

WILLIAM STEWART, veteran of the Civil War, Batavia, Ill., born in Tompkins County, N. Y., in 1836; came to Geneva, Ill., in 1854, where he lived until 1862, when he enlisted in the Union army and was mustered into the Eighty-ninth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, serving until July 25, 1865; located at Batavia in 1867, where he has since resided. He was married in 1867 to Miss Viola Gasper, of Geneva, Ill.

REV. JONATHAN C. STOUGHTON, clergy- man, lecturer and educator, Aurora, Ill., was born in Ashtabula County, Ohio, Nov. 3, 1820. son of Henry and Almira ( Clapp) Stoughton. Reared on a farm, he secured his education in the early district schools of Ohio. After com- ing to Illinois in 1838, he worked his way through Knox College, at Galesburg, graduat- ing from that institution in 1846. The same

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year he joined the Rock River Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, and began his long and useful career as a minister of the gos- pel. In 1864 he first came to Aurora, and two years later, under authority of the Conference, he built Jennings Seminary, one of the noteu educational institutions of the State. From 1858 to 1860 he was pastor at Freeport, and in 1860 served as Delegate to the General Con- ference of the church at Buffalo, N. Y. Later he

JONATHAN C. STOUGHTON.

was located at Champaign, where he erected a building and founded the Champaign and Ur bana Seminary, which was afterwards absorbed by the University of Illinois. During the Civil War he was a strong worker for the cause of the Union, doing much in recruiting troops and inspiring the people. Gov. Yates issued him a Captain's commission, but he never commanded a company. As Chaplain of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Volunteer Infantry he found an appropriate field of labor. After the war he was pastor of Grace church, Chicago. and then devoted several years to the agency work of the Rock River Conference devoting much time to temperance lectures and the edit- ing of a temperance paper. For a time he trav- eled in Europe, and afterward filled pastorates in Aurora, Rock Falls, Rochelle and Wyanet.

At Santa Fe, N. M., he had charge of the old English Mission. Returning to Chicago he was successively pastor of the Asbury, the Winter Street, the State Street and the 54th Street churches, Chicago, and the church at Sugar Grove. He died in Aurora, March 18, 1900. In 1870 he was an independent candidate for Con- gress against Gen. Farnsworth. Dr. Stoughton was first married in 1847, to Miss Amanda Cheritre, of New York State, and in 1881, as his second wife, to Miss Mary J. Leet, of Bradford, 111., who is still living in Aurora. His only sur- viving child is Mrs. Stella Ament, of Ross, Ind.

JOHN C. STRADER, druggist, Geneva, Ill., born in West Martinsburg, Lewis County, N. Y., Aug. 28, 1840, removed to the west ten years later with his parents, who made their home in St. Charles, Ill. There he received a good private school education, was employed as clerk in a dry-goods store for a time, and then learned the drug business, in which he has been engaged almost continuously to the present time. In 1881 he became connected with a drug store in Geneva, and in 1885 was appointed Postmaster by President Cleveland, retaining the office until 1899. For two years afterward he was in the employ of the Glucose Works at Geneva, when he again entered the drug trade as an employe of the pioneer druggist, F. K. Eddowes. In 1897 he bought out his employer, and has continued the business up to the present time. Mr. Strader has been prominent in the local councils of the Democ- racy, and was the Democratic candidate for Treasurer in 1894. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and also belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. His first wife was Miss Jennie Fritts, of St. Charles, and after her death he married Miss Delia S. Moore, daughter of John B. Moore. Bessie Strader was born of the first marriage, and Ruth Moore Strader was born of the second marriage.

ABRAHAM STRAUSS (deceased). merchant, born in Rappenau, Baden, Germany, Jan. 23. 1850, was reared to manliood and educated in his native country. He prepared himself as a teacher, but on coming to Elgin in 1869, entered the employment of his cousin, L. Adler, as a clothing salesman, retaining that connection for ten years. In 1879 he engaged in the clothing business for himself. He soon became one vi the leading merchants of Elgin, and was very

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

highly regarded. To meet the demands of his growing business in 1890 he completed the Strauss Block, one of the principal business buildings of Elgin. He maintained a high standing in the Masonic fraternity. On March 29, 1882, he married Bertha Adler, who was a daughter of Leopold and Rose Adler, and to them were born two children: Edgar Leon and Louis Saran. Mr. Strauss died Sept. 16, 1902.

GEORGE STRICKLAND (deceased ), pioneer settler, Aurora, Kane County, Ill., born in Wid- more, near Bristol, England, in 1816; came to the United States when a boy fourteen years of age, and was apprenticed to the wagon-mak- ers' trade at Skeneateles, N. Y .; in 1835 came west, locating first in Chicago, and, in 1838, removed to Aurora, where, for a time, he was engaged in the wagon-making business as a junior member of the firm of Hall & Strick- land. Later he became connected with George McCollum, the pioneer wagon-maker of Au- rora, remaining in his employ for many years. In 1857 Mr. Strickland removed to Iowa and set- tled on a farm in Chickasaw County, where he died in 1860. His wife, whose maiden name was Olive Sheldon, died at their Iowa home in 1883.

SUGAR GROVE MANUAL AND TRAINING SCHOOL, an educational institution founded by Prof. F. H. Hall, Thomas Judah, L. H. Gil- lett, Mrs. Ruth Snow, and others, in 1875, for the purpose of training students in the ele- ments of agriculture, teaching, practical work in the various departments of the school, and to fit them for similar work in other schools. Prof. Hall, an educator of note and author of several valuable text-books, was its principal for eleven years, leaving it well established in 1887. Miss M. E. Petty, now Mrs. Frank Snow, of Sugar Grove, conducted it for several years, and, in 1899, Prof. E. M. Harris, of Aurora, became its head. Under his management it has gained in every way, especially as a fitting school for college and university life, its stu- dents being freely admitted to the higher in- stitutions upon his recommendation. Prof. Harris has introduced a business school, which is receiving much patronage. The school has a library of 500 volumes.

DAVID W. SUTFIN, farmer, Dundee Town- ship, Kane County, Ill .; born at Tully, Onon-

daga County, N. Y., Aug. 29, 1836; came with his parents to Dundee in 1837, where he grew up and obtained his education in the public schools; served from September, 1861, to April, 1862, in the Seventh Regiment Illinois Volun- teer Infantry during the Civil War, being dis- charged on the latter date on account of disability. Mr. Sutfin was married in 1863 to Isabella Grant.

WILLIAM SUTFIN, pioneer settler, Batavia, Ill., born at Northumberland, Saratoga County, N. Y .; obtained a limited common-school edu- cation, and came to Dundee, Ill., in 1837, re- moving with his family to Batavia in 1838. He was a millwright by trade, and was one of the pioneer mill-builders of the Fox River Val- ley. Mr. Sutfin was twice married, his first union being with Lucy Ann Wilson in 1829, and after her death, Abigail D. Wescott, of Naperville, Ill., became his wife. He died at Dundee in 1896.

EDGAR D. SWAIN, dentist, Batavia, Ill., born in Westford, Vt., Aug. 14, 1836, son of Dr. Marcus and Charlotte ( Woodbury ) Swain, descends on his father's side from Richard Swain, who came from England in 1635, and settled at Hampton, N. H., and on the maternal side from the family which gave to the United States Levi Woodbury, the distinguished jurist and statesman. Edgar D. Swain received a public school and academic education in Ver- mont, and studied dentistry at Saratoga Springs, N. Y. In 1857 he went to Oshkosh, Wis., where he practiced dentistry for about a year, when he removed to Aurora, Ill., spend- ing there a short time before opening his office in Batavia. Soon after the breaking out of the Civil War he raised a company for service, which became Company I, Forty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, being mustered in Sept. 17, 1861, with him as Captain. On September 21 the regiment went to Benton Barracks, St. Louis, Mo., and participated during that fall in the campaigns under Generals Fremont and Hunter, and during the winter of 1861-2 was transferred to the Army of the Mississippi, and the following summer to the Army of the Cum- berland. Captain Swain was promoted Lieuten- ant-Colonel Oct. 10, 1863, and April 13, 1864, was commissioned Colonel, though he was never mustered in as such. He was in com- mand of the regiment from November, 1863,

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until July, 1865, when by orders he assumed command of the Third Brigade, Second Divi- sion, Fourth Army Corps, which command he retained till Dec. 16, 1865, when he joined his regiment for final muster out at Springfield, Ill., Jan. 12, 1866. That the regiment saw hard service is shown by the fact that 1,824 men, all told, were mustered into its companies, and only 250 men remained to be mustered out. Colonel Swain participated in fifty-one battles, and was wounded at New Hope Church, Ga., June 3, 1864. After the war he made his home in Chicago, where he practiced dentistry until 1898, when he retired, removing to Seneca Falls, N. Y., but in 1902 he again returned to Batavia. As a microscopist and histologist Colonel Swain has been well known through- out the West for many years. He was one of the organizers of the Chicago College of Den- tistry, being its first Secretary and Treasurer. In 1885 he became Dean of the reorganized faculty of the Northwestern Dental College, and filled that position about four years. He has filled the positions of President in the fol- lowing Societies connected with his profession: Chicago Dental Society, Odontological Society of Chicago, and Illinois State Dental Society. Colonel Swain was Commander of the Depart- ment of Illinois, G. A. R., for two terms, and served one term as Senior Vice Commander- in-Chief of the National Encampment, G. A. R., and for two terms was Commander of Geo. H. Thomas Post, No. 5, Chicago. His interest in military affairs has continued since the war, and he has served four years six months as Major, Lieutenant-Colonel and Colonel of the First Regiment, Illinois National Guard. He is a member of the Loyal Legion, and was ap- pointed by Governor Altgeld a member of the Commission to locate the position of the Illi- nois regiments on the battlefield of Chattanooga and vicinity. Colonel Swain was married, in 1869, to Miss Clara Smith. daughter of Benja- min Smith, an early settler of Chicago.

JOHN W. SWAINE, farmer and stock-dealer, Elburn, Ill., born in Saratoga, N. Y., Dec. 22, 1832; came to Kane County, 111., in 1844 and in 1861 enlisted in Company 1, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, for service in the Union army; dis- charged on account of disability in August, 1862, when he returned to Kane County, where he has since resided. On Nov. 24, 1868, he was married to Sophia Platt.

JOSEPH E. SWITZER, lumber and coal mer- chant, St. Charles, Ill., was born in Palatine, Cook County, Ill., Sept. 20, 1857, son of Samuel and Harriet (Towner) Switzer, and was brought by his parents to St. Charles when he was ten years old. His education was obtained in the local schools of Palatine and St. Charles, and Elgin Academy. His first business expe- rience was farming, which he followed for four years in St. Charles Township; from 1885 until 1893, he was engaged in contracting and build- ing in Elgin, and was in the same business in St. Charles from 1893 to 1900. In the latter year he bought an interest in the West Side Lumber Company of St. Charles, of which he is Secretary and Manager. In 1880 he was married to Miss Carrie Seaman, of Cortland Township, Kane County, who died Dec. 17, 1898. Mr. Switzer was married a second time in January, 1900, to Miss Belle Townsend, daughter of W. H. Townsend, of Sycamore.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 174

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