Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 177

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

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WILLIAM M. VAN NORTWICK, civil en- gineer and manufacturer, Batavia, Ill., was born Nov. 8, 1836, in Hammondsport, N. Y., a son of John and Patty ( Mallory) Van Nort- wick, and ten years later was brought by his parents to Illinois. Here he was educated in Rock River Seminary at Mount Morris. He became a civil engineer, and in his earlier years was connected with the Galena Air Line Rail- way Company and the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway. In 1870 he became interested in the Batavia Paper Company, and later be-

came associated with other large paper-manu- facturing enterprises in Wisconsin, and it was said that the Van Nortwicks were for a long time the largest manufacturers of paper in the West. As a result of the consolidation of paper- making interests a few years since, Mr. Van Nortwick embraced the opportunity to retire from active business, although retaining his interests. He married Miss Louise J. Towner, of Geneva, Ill., in 1861.

GEORGE C. VAN OSDEL, lawyer, Aurora, Ill., was born at Hughsonville, Dutchess County, N. Y., Dec. 13, 1842, son of James M. and Margaret ( Bates) Van Osdel, and coming west with his parents in 1864 settled near Sandwich, Ill. He was educated in public and private schools, and when twenty-one, intend- ing to turn his attention from farming to com- mercial business, he became a student in Bryant & Stratton's Business College, Chicago. In June, 1864, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment Illinois Volunteer In- fantry for the 100-days' service, the regiment being mustered out October 10th following. He arrived in Aurora in 1865, and for a time clerked in a dry-goods store and later taught school in La Salle and Kendall Counties. For two years he was in charge of the Commer- cial Department of Fowler Institute at Newark. Ill., and for ten years officiated as a Baptist minister, but failing health having compelled his retirement, for the next twelve years was in business as a photographer at Toulon, III., meanwhile serving for eight years as a Justice of the Peace. These associations turned his mind to the law, for which he prepared under Hon. B. F. Thompson as his preceptor, and was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of the State in 1888. Two years later he es- tablislied an office in Aurora, where since 1895 he has been Justice of the Peace, and also Pub- lic Administrator of Kane County. Mr. Van Osdel was married in 1868 to Miss Clara A. Bibbins, of Newark, III., who died in 1883. The children of this marriage are Winifred W. and G. Ernest ( both in New York) and Mrs. Grace ( Van Osdel) Cook, of Kendall County, Ill. Miss Isabel Stuckey, of Washington C. H., Ohio, be- came Mr. Van Osdel's second wife in the fall of 1884.

ARTHUR P. VAUGHAN, Civil War veteran, was born in Essex, Chittenden County, Vt., son

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of Philander and Harriet ( Perry ) Vaughan ; obtained a practical education in the schools of his native State and began his business career as clerk in a general store; came west in 1856, and was a merchant at Fulton, Ill., until 1859. In the latter year he joined the gold hunters who went to Pike's Peak and spent one year in the mines of Colorado. In 1861 he enlisted in the Union Army, on November 19 of that year being mustered into Company F, Fifty- second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, as Sergeant. He was promoted to Second Lieutenant just before the battle of Shiloh, and served in that capacity until Dec. 20, 1864, when he was mus- tered out at the end of three years and one month of active military service, during which time he participated in all the campaigns of the Western Army. In 1865 he entered the service of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway Company, and since 1888 has been Station Agent at Aurora. For several years he was a stockholder in the Aurora National Bank, and was identified with the starting of the Aurora Watch factory and the Aurora Cot- ton Mills as a stockholder. Mr. Vaughan was married in 1888 to Mrs. Harriet A. Hollister, of Batavia.

DANIEL VOLINTINE, merchant and banker, Aurora, Ill .; born in Washington County, N. Y., July 30, 1813; began his business career in the lumber trade when twenty years of age; in 1835 established himself in the mercantile busi- ness, which he conducted successfully for twenty years; removed to Aurora, Ill., in 1854, where he built up one of the largest mercan- tile establishments in Northern Illinois; founded the private banking house of Volin- tine & Williams in 1868, which finally became the Second National Bank of Aurora; married in 1841 Miss Sarah J. Ruste, who survives her husband. Their living children are: Mrs. William S. Benninger and William J. Volin- tine. Mr. Volintine died Feb. 9, 1888.

HENRY NAZER WADE, manufacturer, Batavia, Ill., born in Debenham, County Suf- folk, Eng., Sept. 19, 1848, son of Mark and Louisa (nee Nazer) Wade; received his edu- cation in private and grammar schools at Clare, Stowmarket and Ipswich, Eng .; in 1868 came to the United States, and the following year established his home in Batavia, Ill., having become connected with the United States Wind

Engine & Pump Company, the oldest factory of its kind in the country. Atter mastering every detail of its business, he became Secretary of the Company in 1879, and later its Treasurer. In March, 1901, he severed his connection with this company, but in September, 1902, became its General Manager. Since then a change in organization has made him Secretary and Treasurer in general charge of its affairs. In 1892 he was elected a Director and Vice-Presi- dent of the First National Bank of Batavia, and was chiefly instrumental in bringing about its consolidation with the Citizens' Bank of Batavia, in 1901. He is President of the Mill Owners' Mutual Fire Insurance Company of Chicago. In 1872 he married Miss Sophia L. Carr, daughter of Leonard J. Carr, of Batavia.

JOEL WAGNER, retired farmer, Big Rock, Kane County, was born in Montgomery County, N. Y., Nov. 11, 1834, and when sixteen years old came to Kane County. His education, be- gun in the public schools of Montgomery County, was finished in Batavia Institute. He was engaged in farming when the Civil War began, and in August, 1861, enlisted in Com- pany E, Thirty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infan- try. He was shot in the face at the battle of Stone River, and was discharged in March. 1863, on account of disability. In April, 1865, he married Miss Anna Leyson, who bore him two sons. She died June 9, 1879, and he was married Nov. 15, 1880, to Miss Elizabeth Died- rich, by whom he has had two sons. He re- tired in 1895, moving to the village of Big Rock. For fifteen years, twelve of these years being continuous, he has been Justice of the Peace. He has also been Township Assessor, Trustee and Treasurer of the School Board.

FRANCIS B. WAIGH, cashier First National Bank, Dundee, Ill .; born at Goshen, Orange County. N. Y .; educated in the public schools and Goshen Academy; removed to Illinois in 1889; organized the First National Bank of Dundee in 1900, and is Cashier and a Director of that institution. He was married in 1896 to Miss Florence Edwards, daughter of Henry C. Edwards, of Dundee.

WILLIAM A. WALCOTT, merchant, Batavia, Ill .; born in Attica, N. Y., April 10, 1849, son of Nelson and Alvina ( Wright) Walcott, was educated in the schools of Batavia, Ill., and

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

the University of Michigan. He became a drug- gist, and engaging in that trade in Batavia, has continued in it from 1867 to the present time (1903). He was married in 1871 to Miss Ada M., daughter of Capt. Walter Emerson, of Bucksport, Me.

ANDREW J. WALDRON, pioneer lawyer, Elgin, Ill., was born in Hartland, Vt., Feb. 12, 1816, where he received his early education. Wyoming County, N. Y., where he had his first His youth and early manhood were passed in business experience as clerk in a general store. In 1844 he came to Kane County, Ill., and, after living a year in Batavia, established his home in Elgin. While in Batavia he began reading law and his last studies were completed with one of the pioneer practitioners ot Elgin. He was admitted to the Bar about 1846 and prac- ticed in Elgin thereafter until his death, which occurred April 2, 1866. He was Mayor of Elgin 1859 and 1860. He also served as Justice of the Peace and filled other minor offices. He was one of the promoters of Elgin's greatest industry, the National Watch Factory, and one of the first subscribers to the stock of that now famous corporation. Oct. 22, 1840, he married in New York State, Miss Calista Smith, who died in Elgin in 1888. The children born to them and living at the present time (1903) are E. Dunbar Waldron and Mrs. Martha W. Vol- ler, of Elgin, and Mrs. Bertha W. Stone, of Montclair, N. J.

E. DUNBAR WALDRON, banker, Elgin, born in Elgin, Ill., Jan. 27, 1848, son of Andrew J. and Calista (Smith) Waldron, was educated in Elgin Academy and gained his first business experience as an employe in Lansing Morgan's Lumber Yards at Elgin. Early in 1869, in com- pany with I. S. Bartlett, he became interested in a book and news stand in Elgin, but sold out his interest in this business before the close of the following year. Soon afterward he en- gaged in the wholesale wooden-ware and wil- low-ware trade in Chicago, and prospered until the great fire of 1871 destroyed botn his busi- ness and his prospects. Returning then to Elgin he became connected with the Old Home Bank as bookkeeper, in 1872. In July follow- ing he assisted in organizing the Home National Bank, which succeeded to the com- mercial business of the Home Bank. He en- tered the new bank as bookkeeper, was

promoted to Assistant Cashier in 1873, and to Cashier in 1877. He was Cashier and Chief Executive Officer of the bank until 1891, when he resigned on account of his health having become impaired to such an extent that it was imperative that he should seek rest and recrea- tion. He has since been Vice-President of the Home National Bank, and President of the Home Savings Bank since its organization in 1892. He is also President of the Elgin Lumber Company and Treasurer of the Elgin Loan & Homestead Association, and is identified (as a stockholder) with various manufacturing en- terprises. He has served several terms as City Treasurer of Elgin and on the Board of Trus- tees of the Public Library. He married in 1873 Miss Louise Town, daughter of J. J. Town, a prominent citizen of Des Moines, Iowa.

JOHN WALLACE (deceased ), farmer, Bur- lington Township, Kane County, was born in County Limerick, Ireland, in 1795, and in 1856 came to the United States. Coming to Illinois he first located in Rutland Township, Kane County, but in 1861 removed to a small farm of forty acres which he had bought in Burlington Township, to which he made additions by sub- sequent purchases. Here he was engaged in active farming until the time of his death, March 11, 1879. Mr. Wallace belonged to a historic family, his grandfather, known as "Staker Wallace," being one of the patriots who suffered in the cause of Irish liberty at an early day. Two sons and two daughters of John Wallace still survive: The sons, Thomas and P. H., and the daughters, Mrs. Mary Long and Miss Kate Wallace. One son, John, was a Union soldier, who served in the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infan- try, and was killed in battle during the Civil War.

HENRY WALT, merchant. Batavia, Ill .: born in Limerick Square, Penn., Nov. 24, 1837; reared and educated in his native State and trained to a mercantile life; came to Illinois in 1868 and established his home at Batavia, where he first engaged in the clothing trade; later conducted a coal and grain business and retired from active business life in 1896: mar- ried in 1880 Miss Laura Olson, of Elgin, Ill.

GIDEON W. WARNE, retired farmer, El- burn, Ill .; born July 5, 1838, at Campton, Kane County, Ill., and received his education in the

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

public schools of Franklin and Virgil Town- ships, and at Wheaton, 111. He belongs to the Masonic fraternity, and has been affiliated with the Sycamore Commandery since 1860. He was married Feb. 11, 1864, to Miss Ann, daughter of Horace and Amy ( Miller) Willis. He in- herited a portion of the family estate, which extended into four townships-Virgil, Kane- ville, Campton and Blackberry.

HENRY WARNE (deceased ), farmer, El- burn, Ill .; born in Hunterdon County, N. J., Feb. 8, 1791, and educated in the local schools. He learned the harness-making and tanners' trade, and coming to Kane County at a very early day, took up a section of land. He was a farmer and carried on a mercantile business with the settlers. His wife, Charity (Stires) Warne, died Feb. 26, 1864, and he passed away at Campton, Ill., March 29, 1865.

JOHN WARNE.

JOHN WARNE, lumberman and banker, El- burn, Ill., was born in Mt. Pleasant, N. J., Sept. 6, 1821, son of Henry and Charity (Stires) Warne, and received his early education in the schools of New York, whither his family had removed in 1831. Six years later the family came to Illinois and settled on a farm in Camp- ton Township, Kane County. The father was the first postmaster at Avon, which was the

first postoffice in the township. John Warne spent his earlier manhood in farming, and in later life became one of the large tand-owners of the county. He was also engaged in trade as a member of the firm of Gray & Warne at Elburn. For many years he was largely in- terested in lumbering in Wisconsin, and was one of the incorporators of the Kane County National Bank at St. Charles, and was its Vice-President. It was succeeded by the bank- ing house of John Stewart & Co., and Mr. Warne organized the Kane County Bank of Elburn in company with Messrs. Willis and Richmond, of which he was President up to the time of his death, Aug. 19, 1903. He was one of the founders of the Aurora Cotton Company. Mr. Warne was married in 1847 to Miss Olive S., daughter of Atwell and Betsy ( Wheeler ) Burr, who came from New York to Kane County in 1836. Mr. and Mrs. Warne celebrated their golden wedding in 1897. She died Oct. 4, 1898.

ISAAC WARREN, lawyer, Elgin, Ill .; born in Boone County, Ill., March 8, 1851, son of John and Anna (Church) Warren; educated in the public schools and Beloit College ( Beloit, Wis.); admitted to the bar in the Supreme Court of Illinois in 1891, and has since prac- ticed in Elgin; has given much attention to patents and patent law, and is one of the pat- entees of an improved process for clarifying petroleum oil; is interested in agricultural in- terests as a land owner and still has in his possession the old Warren homestead in Boone County. He was married in 1882 to Miss Viola McAllister, daughter of S. McAllister, of Elgin, Ill.

D. B. WATERMAN, merchant and railroad builder, Aurora, Ill .; born in Rochester, N. Y., April 21, 1821; came west in 1842, locating first in Indiana, and the following year removed to Aurora, Ill., where in partnership with his brother, George G. Waterman, he engaged in the hardware business, which he conducted for over twenty years; organized the Chicago & Iowa Railroad Company in 1869-70, with which he was connected for ten years. He afterwards built the Chicago, Rockford & Northern Rail- road, extending from Rochelle to Rockford, and was later employed by the Chicago & North- Western Railway Company. He served as City Alderman ten years and Mayor one term; fraternally was a prominent Mason. Mr. Water-

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

man was married Feb. 17, 1852, to Miss Anna White, of Blackberry Township.

JAMES S. WATSON, physician and surgeon, Aurora, Ill., was born at Beatyestown, N. J., Oct. 10, 1851; came with his parents to Kane County, Ill., in 1852, locating four miles north- west of Kaneville, in Kaneville Township; grew to maturity on a farm and obtained his early education in the public schools; later attended the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), graduating from the medical depart- ment of that institution in 1881; spent the following year taking a post-graduate course in the University of Edinburgh, Scotland. In 1893-94 he took a second post-graduate course in the medical department of Columbia Col- lege. In 1883 he began practicing his profes- sion at Elburn, Ill., remaining until 1889, and in the meantime established a large country practice. Locating at Aurora in the latter year, he has since been one of the leading practi- tioners of that city. As a Republican the Doctor has always taken an active interest in politics, but declined to accept public office. He married in 1884 Miss Eliza Stewart, daugh- ter of Hon. John Stewart, mention of whom may be found elsewhere in this volume. Doc- tor and Mrs. Watson have four children: Helen, Stewart, Margaret and Dean Watson.

WILLIAM WATSON (deceased), born at Princeton, Mass., May 19, 1828, the son of John Watson, and descendant of an old New England family, was reared at home, receiving a good education and being trained to farm life. Com- ing west in 1853, he located near Bristol, Ken- dall County, Ill., turning his attention to farming. After two years spent in Kendall County, he bought wild land six miles south of DeKalb, where for many years he engaged in dealing in stock. His old homestead is still in the possession of the family. He and his wife were pioneers in building up the Advent church at Afton, and the church building there was mainly the result of their generous gitts. Subsequently they moved to Aurora, where Mr. Watson retired from active business dying there in 1885. Mr. Watson was married in 1853 to Miss Joanna M. Curtis, born in Douglas, Mass., of Puritan ancestry, her great-grandfather being an Englishman who purchased the land on which several generations of his descendants have since lived. Since the death of her husband,

Mrs. Watson has continued to make her home in Aurora. To Mr. and Mrs. Watson have been born the following named children: Mrs. Ella M. Davis, of Jackson County, Kan .; Mrs. Abbie L. Shatto, of Tustin City. Cal .; Lincoln J., DeKalb County, Ill., and William J., of Aurora.

CHARLES WEEKS (deceased), pioneer mer- chant, Aurora, Ill., born in England, at Dracott, near Cheddar, Oct. 14, 1829, where his early life was spent and his education acquired. When sixteen years of age he came to the United States, living first at Skeneateles, N. Y., where he learned the carpenter's trade, and where he married Miss Matilda H. Peacock in 1854. After his wedding he immediately came west, locating at Mendota, Ill., where he was long successfully engaged in business as a con- tractor and builder. Ten years later he re- moved to Kentland, where he was in the grain trade for about three years. From Kentland he went to Aurora, and for twenty years was there engaged in the same business and the hardware trade. About 1890 failing health compelled him to retire, and in 1895 he went to the Pacific Coast, where he traveled quite extensively, but finally died in Tacoma, Wash., in 1899. Mrs. Weeks survives her husband, and now lives in California. The only other sur- viving member of the family' besides Mrs. Weeks, is Mrs. Herman N. Janes, of Aurora.

GEORGE WELCH, builder and contractor, St. Charles, Ill., born in County Wexford, Ire- land, Oct. 7, 1845, son of James and Bridget. ( Fardy) Welch, when only two years old was brought to the United States, his parents ar- riving in St. Charles in June, 1847, where his father died only two weeks after reaching the village. George Welch was reared a farmer, and was engaged in tilling the soil until he was twenty-three years old. In 1869 he learned the mason trade, which has since been his occupa- tion. At the present time he is engaged upon large contracts in mason work and building. He has been connected with the construction of a number of noted buildings, including the Insane Asylum at Elgin, being engaged there three years; the Dunham House, the new Haines Block, and in 1903, was employed on the buildings of the new St. Charles Home for Delinquent Boys, and the Kane County Court House. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Modern Woodmen

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

of America, and in politics is a Democrat. For sixteen years he has been an Alderman of St. Charles, twelve of which were consecutive terms. He was married Feb. 25, 1865, to Miss Julia, daughter of Martin Lawler, of Burling- ton, Iowa.

RODNEY WELCH (deceased), educator and journalist, Chicago, was born in Monmouth, Me. Nov. 19, 1828, and died in Chicago, May 29, 1897. The farm on which he was born was granted to the family by Lady Temple, sister of the founder of Bowdoin College, and is still in possession of the Welch family. Rodney Welch graduated from Bowdoin College and be- came a school teacher. Coming to Illinois in 1855, he became the first principal of the Gen- eva High School; later he was Professor of Chemistry in the old Chicago University, and still later occupied the same chair in Hahne. mann Medical College. He became associated with the Chicago press as one of the editors of the "Prairie Farmer," and subsequently was an editorial associate with Wilbur F. Story on the Chicago "Times," a connection that existed many years after the death of Mr. Story. Mr. Welch was one of the founders of the Chicago Press Club, and acted as its President for many years. He was also one of the founders of the Chicago Philosophical Society and the Saracen Club, the latter at one time the leading literary club of Chicago. In 1853 he married Miss Abbie Frances Stevens, of New Portland, Me.

OWEN B. WELD (deceased), Elgin, was born in Orford, N. H., Oct. 24, 1831, son of Fran- cis and Harriet ( Mann) Weld, and was brought by his parents into Kane County, Ill., in 1837. His early experiences were those of a boy on an Indian-ridden frontier, and in a country so sparsely settled that, when the settlers held their first Fourth of July picnic, but thirteen adult persons were present. Mr. Weld was educated in the schools of the district, and his natural studiousness and wide reading made him a man of broad intelligence in later years. Reared to farming, he purchased the old home- stead which his father had secured from the Government, and as opportunity offered added to his real estate holdings until he became a very extensive land owner. Until 1884 he con- tinued to live on the old place which is still in the possession of the family, and Mount Weld, as it is called, is one of the land-marks

of the country adjacent to Elgin. In 1884 Mr. Weld removed to Elgin, where he purchased the finest home in the city, and there he lived until his death, Dec. 1, 1899. Mr. Weld was married Jan. 11, 1853, to Miss Elizabeth Kelley, daughter of John H. and Eliza ( Mansfield) Kelley, born

OWEN B. WELD.

in Schenectady. N. Y., of which city her father was at one time Mayor. Her mother came of a noted English family. Mr. and Mrs. Kelley came to Illinois in 1844, and settled in Rutland Township, Kane County, where they were among the most noted of the early pioneers. They had a family of four sons and two daugh- ters, all of whom have been prominent and prosperous. Mrs. Weld, who is the younger daughter, is a lady of literary attainments and marked business ability. The surviving mem- bers of Mr. Weld's family, other than his widow, are Mrs. Hattie ( Weld ) Wing, of Elgin, and Mrs. Mary ( Weld ) Page, of Chicago.

SALEM E. WELD, merchant and operator in real estate, Elgin, Ill., was born in Elgin, Aug. 3. 1842, son of Francis and Harriet ( Mann) Weld. Francis Weld was born in Charlton. Mass., Dec. 31, 1797, and in 1825 was married to Harriet Mann, at Orfordville, N. H. They came to Illinois in 1837, where she died in 1865,

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

and he in 1869. They reared a family of five boys and two girls, on a farm which the senior Weld had improved on land bought from the Government. Three of the chilren are still liv- ing-two in Elgin and one in Chicago. Salem E. Weld was educated in the public schools of' Elgin and Batavia, and trained to a farmer's life. Later, however, he studied medicine and engaged in the drug trade in Elgin, in which for twenty-three years he was engaged as a member of the firm of R. & S. E. Weld, one of the most noted in this part of the State They began business in 1867 and continued it until 1890, when they retired from the drug trade, and Salem E. Weld turned his attention to real estate, dealing largely in Northern Illi- nois and Wisconsin lands. He has been a meni- ber of the Board of Directors of Gail Borden Public Library of Elgin, and has served as Coroner of Kane County, and as Alderman of Elgin. In 1862 he enlisted, and was mustered into the One Hundred Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, during the first year of his service was Hospital Steward, and for two years following was in charge of the field hos- pital of the Second Division of the Fifteenth Army Corps, and for his marked ability in that position was honorably mentioned by the Sur- geon-General. Mr. Weld was mustered out in June, 1865, in Washington, his experiences in the army having much to do with his subse- quent successful business career. He has taken much interest in preserving the early history of Kane County, and is Secretary of the Kane County Old Settlers' Association. In 1885 he was married to Miss Mary E. Hoag, daughter of James and Mary ( Bradford ) Hoag, of St. Charles Township, Kane County.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 177

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