Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 175

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

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JOSEPH M. SWITZER (deceased), farmer, Rutland Township, Kane County, Ill., born in Toronto, Canada, May 21, 1822; came with his mother to Kane County in 1838, and in 1844 purchased a 120-acre farm in Rutland Town- ship, where he resided until his death, Feb. 28, 1882; politically a Republican and served as Justice of the Peace twelve years. On Feb. 13, 1851, he married Miss Alice Smith, who, with their three children, is still living.

SAMUEL SWITZER, retired farmer, St. Charles, 111., was born in Toronto, Canada, May 8, 1829, son of Joseph Switzer, and was edu- cated in the schools of his native city. In 1849 he came to St. Charles, Ill., with his father, who bought a large farm near that place, where the father and son lived together until the former's death in 1853. The son re- tained his interest in the farm until 1856, when he sold out and removed to Cook County, where he continued farming. In 1868 he returned to Kane County, and bought a farm which he actively cultivated until 1901, when he rented it, though still living there retired. He was married in St. Charles Township, Kane County, on June 16, 1853, to Harriet Turner, daughter of Alexander Turner, of St. Charles Township.

PHILO SYLLA (deceased), inventor and manufacturer, was born in Pembroke, N. H., Oct. 12, 1806; his father was Benjamin Cilley

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and his mother Mary Morey. Left an orphan at the age of about eight years, he was taken to Massachusetts by a Mr. Green, who died a few years later, when the boy was sent back to his former home and bound out, being al- lowed only six months in school during his servitude. At the age of eighteen, in company with four cousins-all Cilleys-he started for the Far West and reached the Western Reserve in Ohio, where they all changed the style of their names, the subject of this sketch adopting Sylla as his name. After remaining in Ohio about two years, he returned to New Hamp- shire and was soon thereafter appointed Cap- tain of a militia company, which office he held for many years. In 1831 he was married to Lavina Huntoon, of Salisbury, N. H., and of this union there were four children. James Sylla, of this family, was educated in Elgin public schools, Knox College and graduated at Rochester University, N. Y .; in 1856 taught in Raymond Collegiate Institute, N. Y .; was Prin- cipal of Elgin Academy (1858-9) and a Pro- fessor in Chicago University (1860-61), dying at Friendship, N. Y., in January, 1865. Sarah Jane (Sylla) Smith attended the public schools in Elgin and taught there and in Elgin Academy; married Edwin J. Smith in 1859, died in 1881. Wm. F. Sylla (sketch elsewhere). Edwin Sylla, educated in the public schools of Elgin and Elgin Academy, served as Captain of Company H. Tenth Illinois Infantry, in War of the Rebellion, was Chief of Elgin Fire De- partment, a Republican in politics, and died at Elgin, June 28, 1875. Among the earliest manufacturers in Elgin, Ill., was Capt. Philo Sylla, who came from Wilmot Flat, N. H., in July, 1837, and located a claim just west of the present city of Elgin. Mr. Sylla was both an inventor and a mechanic. He had a shop on his farm where he built fanning mills and about the year 1839 constructed a thrashing machine. The latter had an entirely new fea- ture, consisting of a fan for cleaning the grain as it passed through the machine instead of winnowing by hand. Oscar and Edward Law- rence, who are now living in Elgin, both as- sisted in thus thrashing grain on Mr. Sylla's farm, and William G. Todd says that he also well remembers the first thrashing machine that Mr. Sylla built. "After he had thrashed his own grain with this experimental machine and made some minor improvements, he moved it to my father's (James Todd's) farm, and

thrashed the first crop of grain raised there, Having finished, he moved on to the place now known as the William Wing farm, on High- land Avenue, where thrashing went on until noon; but while the men were absent at dinner. the straw took fire and the machine was de- stroyed." Mr. Sylla built a second thrasher which was used on several farms in the neigh- boring towns. Of this machine Mr. Robert Corron, who is still living on the same land he entered in 1835, says: "In the year 1840 I bought a thrashing machine built by Philo Sylla at Elgin. It was named the Prairie Queen,' and was the first machine that both thrashed and cleaned grain ever used in this country. Two hundred bushels of wheat, or four hundred bushels of oats, could be thrashed and cleaned in a day; this was won- derful in those times!" In 1842 Mr. Sylla left his farm and moved into a house of his own construction on the corner of North State and Washington streets, Elgin, building a shop on the opposite side of the street, where, together with Charles Webster, he continued to manu- facture hand fanning mills, thrashing machines and horse-power tread-mills. Alfred Hadlock was soon after taken into the firm, and im- provements were made in the machines and horse-power by using a "tumbling rod" instead of a belt to convey power. Mr. Sylla soon left the manufacture of thrashers, etc., to Alfred Hadlock and George W. Renwick, while he devoted all his energies to the improvement and manufacture of reaping machines. He bought a patent and built machines, but his first efforts, which were "headers," proved failures, and he found that he had risked and lost his farm on the venture. In the year 1850 Mr. Sylla built a reaping machine upon which the grain was raked and bound by hand. In 1851 improvements were made, and combined for cutting grain or grass, and a hinged cut- ting bar was used. Three or four machines were built. In 1852 further improvements were made, and the hinged cutting bar and a reel without a continuous shaft was later adopted. The raking and binding were done by four men who rode upon the machine under a canopy which covered the entire platform, and the bundles of grain were carried upon the machine for each shock and dumped in place for setting up in the field. A copartnership was formed and these machines were manu- factured by Sylla & Adams, Augustus Adams,

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for several years a member of the State Leg- islature from Kane County, being the partner. The first patent secured was issued to Philo Sylla and Augustus Adams on reaping and mowing machines, being granted Sept. 20, 1853. In 1855 Philo Sylla obtained additional patents for improvements on reaping and mowing machines. A double-hinge folding sickle-bar and a reel, without a continuous shaft, for reaping and mowing machines, were strictly Philo Sylla's inventions, and these have since proved to be of the greatest value to the entire world, having been generally adopted and being still in use on all the leading mowers and reap- ers manufactured in this country, and through- out the world. The invention of a hinge for attaching a sickle or cutter-bar to a reaping and mowing-machine was revealed to Mr. Sylla in a dream, and he was enabled at once to complete the machine he had worked upon for several years. Machines utilizing these in- ventions were manufactured in Elgin by Sylla & Adams during 1852-4; by Sylla, Seward & Co., in 1855-6; and by Sylla & Adams in 1857. The great financial crash of 1857 brought mis- fortune, and the valuable patents were sold to C. Aultman & Co., of Canton, Ohio, to whom they were reissued and proved to be of great money value and an immense source of revenue.

Mr. Sylla was a Baptist and a Deacon in the Elgin church for nearly twenty years. In poli- tics he was a Free-Soiler, Whig and Repub- lican. He was elected the first President of the village and town of Elgin in 1846, and always took a lively interest in all public mat- ters. About 1845 he and four other citizens of Elgin erected at their own cost the first school house built in Elgin, and the building is still standing in West Elgin. Philo Sylla died at Elgin, May 12, 1870.

WILLIAM F. SYLLA, City and Town Clerk. Elgin, Ill., was born in Elgin Aug. 6, 1840, the son of Philo and Lavina ( Huntoon) Sylla, natives of New Hampshire, and was educated in the public schools of that city and at the Elgin Academy. While a student in Elgin Academy he gave instruction to classes to de- fray expenses, and also taught a district school for a time. In July, 1861, he enlisted in Com- pany A, Thirty-sixth Regiment Illinois Volun- teers, and was detailed as a clerk for the Regimental Quartermaster. The regiment ar- rived at Rolla, Mo., Sept. 29, 1861. Here he

was taken with typhoid fever and, after several weeks, was detailed as one of a guard of honor which accompanied the remains of his First Lieutenant to Elgin, 111., for burial-Private Sylla being conveyed during the entire journey by his friends on a cot. He was honorably dis- charged upon the medical certificate of Surgeon

WILLIAM F. SYLLA.

H. M. Crawford, of Camp Douglas, Chicago, Dec. 25. 1861. June 25, 1862, he re-enlisted in Company D, Sixty-seventh Illinois (a three- months' regiment) and was appointed Quarter- master Sergeant of the Post at Camp Douglas, serving until discharged by reason of expira- tion of service, Sept. 25. 1862. Early in October he was employed as clerk by the Commissary of General Quimby's Division at Corinth, and was with General Grant's army during the Tallahatchie campaign. Suffering much of the time from malaria and typhoid fever, he was sent north from the Foundry Hospital at Mem- phis, Tenn., by Surgeon A. L. Clark, in Janu- ary, 1862. In the summer of 1863 he was with General White's expedition on the Big Sandy River, Ky., and in August was appointed clerk for James C. Rankin, Division Commissary of General Hascall's Division, Twenty-third Army Corps, and was with General Burnside's expe- dition to East Tennessee in August and Sep- tember, 1863; was at Knoxville during the siege

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

of that city by rebel General Longstreet and, in December, 1863, was sent on a special mis- sion over the Cumberland Mountains on horse- back to Danville, Ky., and to Chicago. Upon his return to Knoxville he found that Com- missary Rankin had resigned and returned to Chicago. He at once was tendered a position and served as clerk for Post Commissary Capt. James Miller, of the Sixty-fifth Illinois, at Knoxville, Tenn., until the reorganization of the Army of the Ohio, Twenty-third Army Corps, preparatory to the Atlanta campaign. In February, 1864, he was promoted to the posi- tion of Chief Clerk to Col. R. B. Treat, Chief Commissary on the staff of Gen. J. M. Schofield, for the Army of the Ohio, Twenty-third Army Corps, remaining in this position nearly two years, when, in April, 1865, he was recom- mended by General Schofield for appointment as Commissary of Subsistence, with the rank of Major, for assignment as Disbursing Com- missary, but a general order from the War Department, Washington, made further appoint- ments impossible. Mr. Sylla was connected with the Atlanta campaigns and accompanied the Twenty-third Army Corps to Pulaski, Tenn .; was at the battles of Columbia, Spring Hall, Franklin and Nashville, went with the Corps. via Washington, D. C., to Wilmington, N. C .; was at the battle of Kinston, and was present at the meeting of Sherman's and Schofield's armies at Goldsboro, and remained at Raleigh, N. C., until the latter part of Sep- tember, 1865, returning with General Scho- field's headquarters to Cincinnati in October, and to his home in Elgin in November, 1865, making a service in connection with the Union army of four years and four months. He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and Secretary of the Thirty-sixth Regiment, Illinois Volunteers' Association. After more than four years' service in the War of the Rebellion, having returned to his home in Elgin, he was a partner of his former Cap- tain, M. B. Baldwin, in the drug business for a year, but finding this occupation too confin- ing, in company with his father and brother he engaged in the foundry business. In the spring of 1874 he was solicited to be a can- didate for Alderman in the new Fifth Ward of Elgin, and was elected over his opponent, Joslyn, being re-elected the following spring over Arwin E. Price. In March, 1875, upon his resignation as Alderman, he was appointed

City Clerk of Elgin, a position which by suc- cessive appointments he held for five years. In 1880 the city having organized under the Gen- eral State Law, he was elected City Clerk for the terin of two years, and has been re-elected consecutively since that date. In 1875 he was also elected Town Clerk, and has held that office since that date, making a record of hold- ing the offices of City Clerk and Town Clerk, at the same time, for the term of twenty-eight years. He was also elected Secretary of the Board of Education in 1877; was elected a member of the Board of Education and Secre- tary the following year, and held these posi- tions for sixteen years, consecutively. He has been a deacon in the Baptist church of Elgin for twenty-four years. No man holding office under the present city regime is more deserv- ing of success and esteem, having made a record in his present official position of which any citizen might feel proud. Mr. Sylla was married Dec. 5, 1871, to Kate E. Raymond, only daughter of George B. Raymond, and they have had four children: Mary E. (now Mrs. Edward R. Davery), Daisy A., George B. R., and Mar- guerite K. Sylla. Mr. Sylla and family are members of the First Baptist church, Elgin, and he is a Deacon and Clerk of the church. In politics he is a Republican.

W. A. TANNER, pioneer farmer and mer- chant, Aurora, Ill .; born at Watertown, Jef- ferson County, N. Y., Feb. 17, 1815; came to Kane County, Ill., in September, 1835, locating on a tract of government land, and eventually became the owner of a large estate in Kane County, as well as land in Kansas and Minne- sota; became interested in the hardware busi- ness in 1855, conducting a successful trade until the time of his death, Dec. 29, 1892. He was married July 9, 1840, to Miss Anna Make- peace, who died Oct. 1, 1900, leaving eight living children, viz .: Eugene, Henry R., Mrs. Flor- ence Pattison, Mrs. Amy Johnson, Imogene, Mrs. Mary Hopkins, Mrs. Martha Thornton and George W.

RALPH C. TAYLOR, physician and surgeon, Lily Lake, Ill .; born at Milburn, Lake County, Ill., Nov. 12, 1869; obtained his preliminary education in the public schools of his native village, Hillsdale (Michigan) College, the Northern Indiana Normal School (department of pharmacy ), and received his medical train-

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

ing in the College of Physicians and Surgeons (Chicago) ; began practicing at Lily Lake in 1897; married on May 23, 1900, Irene L. Stew- art.

FRANK B. TAZEWELL, farmer, Plato Township, Kane County, born in Rutland Township, Kane County, Jan. 23, 1866, son of James B. and Mary J. ( Moore) Tazewell, was reared on the farm and educated in the public school, Elgin Academy and Drew's Business College at Elgin; purchased a farm at East Plato in 1895, where he has since maintained his home, and where he engaged in dairy farm- ing and stock-feeding. He has held local offices, and has taken a keen interest in the welfare of the public schools of his neighborhood. He was married in 1895 to Miss Lulu Doty, daughter of Edward Doty, of Hampshire Township, Kane County, who died in August, 1900. Their only child is Lynn E.

JAMES B. TAZEWELL.

JAMES B. TAZEWELL (deceased), late of 579 Orange Street, Elgin, retired farmer for many years, was born in England, Jan. 12, 1838, came to Kane County, Ill., when six years old, in company with his parents, and here was , his home until his death, Oct. 6, 1902. His education was secured in the public schools, after which he engaged in farming with his

father on a place southwest of Gilbert's, Kane County. In 1865 he purchased a farm on which he made his home until 1899. That year he bought a home in Elgin, to which he retired, giving up active labor on account of the in- firmities of age. In public life he served as School Director and pathmaster, and was al- ways deeply interested in the public welfare. He was well liked by his neighbors. He was married, April 13, 1859, to Miss Mary J. Moore, in Will County, Ill., who was born Jan. 28, 1838, and of this union were born six children: James M .; Elizabeth; Margaret E .; Frank B .; David D., who died March 11, 1903; and Wil- liam H.

LESTER TEEPLE, farmer and stock-raiser, Dundee Township, Kane County, was born in Woodstock, Canada, in 1851, son of Pellum C. Teeple. The father was reared in Canada, and, in his early years, took part in the Canadian Rebellion of 1837, and on this account was compelled to seek refuge in the United States. For a time he worked on the old Illinois and Michigan Canal, then in process of construc- tion, and later secured employment at the mill- ing trade, in Newburg, Rockford and else- where in Illinois. He married at Newburg, Mary A. Gleason, daughter of one of the pioneers of that region, and having received a tull pardon for his participation in the rebel- lion, he went back to Canada to care for his father and mother. After a residence in Canada of twelve years, he returned to Illinois and established his home at Woodstock, where the son, Lester Teeple, received his education in the public schools, and in Todd's Academy. Lester Teeple engaged in the lumber and coal trade in Marengo, Ill., in 1874, and continued this business there and at other points for sev- eral years. In 1881 he came to Dundee Town- ship, Kane County, and entered into the business of dairy-farming and breeding thor- oughbred stock, which he continued until 1903. The latter year he turned his attention to stock-feeding, in which he is now largely en- gaged. In 1875 Mr. Teeple married Miss Ada Mason. daughter of David Mason, one of the oldest settlers of Dundee Township, who died in June, 1903. Mr. and Mrs. Teeple are the parents of six children: David P., Hugh M .. L. Lynn and Kenneth G. (both deceased), Con- stance W., and Collson. The living members of the family still reside in Dundee.

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

JOSEPH TEFFT (deceased), physician and surgeon, Elgin, Ill., was born at Lebanon, N. Y., Aug. 29, 1812, and died in Elgin, Ill., Aug. 26, 1888. He obtained a good academic ednea- tion, and studied medicine at Great Barrington, Vt .; came west with his father's family, Jonathan Tefft, who settled on a farm in Cook County, near Elgin, in 1826. Later the elder Tefft removed to a farm in Elgin Township, where he died in 1866. Dr. Tefft was the first resident physician in Elgin, and was also the owner of a farm, part of which is now in Lord's Park in Elgin. He continued in practice in Elgin until 1875, and during this time was in- terested in many important business and social enterprises in this city, and especially was active in developing its growth as a great dairy center. He was the first Mayor of Elgin, and for five terms in succession held that office.

LESLIE E. TEFFT (deceased ), physician and surgeon, Elgin, Ill., was born in Elgin, Aug. 26, 1848, the son of Dr. Joseph Tefft, whose home was then located on what is now the site of the City Hall. His education was obtained at the Elgin Academy, and Notre Dame Univer- sity, of South Bend, Ind. In 1887 he graduated from Rush Medical College, of Chicago, and opened an office for the practice of his profes- sion in Elgin. Here he continued until within a few years prior to his death, when failing health compelled him to curtail his professional . labors. He was a member of the American Medical Association, the Fox River Valley Association, and the Chicago Medical So- ciety. and stood high as practitioner. An active interest was taken by him in the development of the Elgin Park system, and he served four years as a member of the Elgin Park Board. In Masonic matters he stood high, being a Knight Templar and a Noble of the Mystic Shrine. He died Dec. 29, 1899. In 1872 he was married to Miss Susan Belyea, who was born and reared in St. Charles, Ill. Mrs. Tefft still resides at the old homestead in Elgin. Their children are Mrs. Sherman C. Spitzer, of Oak Park, a graduate of the University of Chi- cago, and Leslie J., who graduated from the University of Michigan in 1902.

EDWIN L. TENNY, Aurora, Ill .; born near Rochester, N. Y., in 1829; reared on a farm and educated in the public schools; came west in 1863 and established his home in Ottawa, Ill.,

where he opened a photograph gallery; came to Aurora in 1874, where he resided until his death, Jan. 3, 1903. He was married in 1886 to Miss Ellen McAlpine, of Aurora.

THE AURORA HOSPITAL is an institution founded in 1886 by an association composed of fifteen public-spirited men and women of Aurora. The following were the incorporators and first Board of Trustees for the manage- ment and control of the hospital: G. W. Quereau, Mary S. Holbrook, J. B. Arnold, Eliza S. Brigham, G. W. Rhodes, C. L. Hoyt, Holmes Miller, Fred O. White, L. E. Johnson, A. Somarindyck, A. K. Perry, H. H. Evans, George F. Ruggles, C. M. Liew, Nellie E. Higgins, Eb. Denny, William McKinney, Joseph Rising and Thomas O'Donnel. The institution was opened for the reception of patients in a rented build- ing on Fourth Street, in October, 1886. Two years later the present building on Lincoln Avenue was erected, and greatly enlarged in 1903. The Hospital was founded to afford med- ical aid for the sick and injured, and it was expressly provided in the charter that no per- son should be refused aid on account of inabil- ity to pay the usual fees. The sick and in- jured received into the hospital are cared for by a corps of physicians drawn from the ranks of the practicing physicians of Aurora. Its seventeen years of history are creditable as a record of unselfish good, and it is a model in- stitution of the kind. A school for the prac- tical instruction and training of nurses is conducted in connection with the hospital.

THE CARPENTERSVILLE LITERARY AND LIBRARY ASSOCIATION .- In 1871, while serving as a member of the Illinois Legislature, the Hon. J. A. Carpenter secured a charter for the above-named organization, the incorpora- tors being George Marshall, W. W. Norton, Wil- liam G. Sawyer, Henry G. Sawyer, Delos Dun- ton and others. The charter set forth the purposes of the organization, as the establish- ment of a library and reading room, and the formation of a society for mutual improvement in Carpentersville. Some time later a pioneer organization known as the "Hand in Hand Divi- sion," transferred a few books which it had secured to the new organization, and this was the foundation of its large and well-selected library. The first home of the library was the old school house in Carpentersville, which

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

had been abandoned when the new school building was erected. This building was oc- cupied until 1897. In that year the library was moved into a fine new building, erected for its special use by Mrs. Mary Carpenter. It is maintained by contributions from the people of Carpentersville, and from its benefactress, Mrs. Carpenter.

THE ELGIN SILVER PLATE COMPANY, Elgin, Ill., capital stock, $100,000, was incor- porated in 1890 as the Griffin Silver Plate Company, of Chicago, with John T. Richards, of Chicago, as President; Louis G. Koegal, of St. Louis, as Vice-President, and John' M. Black- burn, of Chicago, as Secretary and Treasurer. In 1892 the present factory was completed at a cost of $25,000, and the business removed to Elgin, the corporate name being changed to Elgin Silver Plate Company. They are manu- facturers of coffin and casket hardware, and are the largest producers of this class of mate- rial in the world. From one hundred and twenty-five to one hundred and fifty hands are employed with an annual output of about a quarter of a million dollars. From 1892 the business shows an increase of sixty hands and $75,000 in volume of business. The officers (1892) are: President, Joseph Shaw, of Zanes- ville, Ohio; Vice-President, T. J. Pringle, of Milwaukee; Secretary and Treasurer, John M. Blackburn, who as resident official has charge of the entire business.

THE HOLY CROSS CATHOLIC CHURCH, of Batavia, had its origin in a mission established there in 1852. For several years thereafter the mission was attended alternately by priests from St. Charles and Aurora. The mission was established in April, 1870, as a parish by Rev. Michael Prendergast, who was transferred from St. Charles and became the first resident pastor of the Batavia church, where he died March 3, 1875, his remains being interred in Calvary Cemetery in Chicago. He was instrumental in securing the property on which the church and parish house now stand, and shortly before his death began making preparations for the build- ing of a new church. He is remembered as one of the most devout rectors of the parish, and also as most active and energetic in ad- vancing its interests. He was succeeded by Rev. James O'Connor, who remained in charge but a few months. His successor, Rev.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 175

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