Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 178

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

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ANDREW WELSH, merchant, Aurora. Ill., born at Iroquois, Province of Ontario, Canada, July 9, 1844; enlisted in the One Hundred Forty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry in 1864, and was mustered out of the service in January, 1866, when he returned to Yorkville, Ill., where he had resided previous to his en- listment. He engaged in the sale of carriages, wagons and agricultural implements at the lat- ter place, and followed this occupation for thirty-nine years, but since 1886 has conducted the business in Aurora. Mr. Welsh served two terms in the State Legislature, and in 1885 was appointed Collector of Internal Revenue for the Second Illinois District by President Cleveland.

He was married in 1872 to Miss Lizzie E. Shep- pard, of Yorkville, Ill.

HARRY F. WERLE, Geneva, City Clerk of Geneva, was born in Sterling, Ill., June 15, 1877, and was reared and educated in his native city, where he added to the educational training received in the public schools a special course of study in the Sterling Business College. For a time he was employed as stenographer in Chicago, and then came to Geneva, to take a position with the Appleton Manufacturing Company, then one of the leading industries of that city. In 1899 Mr. Werle opened a gen- tlemen's furnishing goods store in Geneva, which he conducted until Feb. 1, 1903. In April, 1901, he was elected City Clerk of Gen- eva, and in 1903 was still serving in that position. Fraternally he is a member of the Masonic and the Odd Fellow fraternities. Polit- ically he is an active Republican.

CHARLES WHEATON.

CHARLES WHEATON, attorney, Aurora, born in Warren, R. I., May 29, 1829, graduated from the literary department of Trinity College, Hartford, Conn., in 1849, and studied law in the office of B. F. Thomas, Worcester, Mass., being admitted to the bar Sept. 7, 1851. He began his practice in Worcester, but came to Batavia, 11 !..

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

in 1854, and five years later located at Aurora. In 1904 he is actively engaged in his legal practice. He was elected Mayor of Aurora on the Prohibition ticket in 1864, and was a mem- ber of the Illinois Constitutional Convention of 1870. He has always been a Republican.

GEORGE C. WEST, farmer, Blackberry Town- ship, Kane County, Ill., born in Chenango County, N. Y., May 9, 1841; obtained his edu- cation in the public schools of Blackberry Township, Jennings Seminary ( Aurora) and the West Aurora High School; has resided on his present farm-which he inherited-since a child two years of age; married March 5, 1863, Nancy McDole.

JACOB WESTERMAN, merchant, Dundee, III., born at Rome, N. Y., March 19, 1844; came west with his parents in 1855, locating first at Greenwood, McHenry County, Ill. In 1864 he enlisted in Company H, Ninety-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry; established a general store in Dundee in 1874, which he conducted for nineteen years. Since 1893 he has been a mem- ber of the firm of Borden, Westerman & Co., dealers in coal, lumber, flour and feed. Mr. Westerman was married Sept. 13, 1866, to Miss Emily Hathaway, of Greenwood, III.

JAMES T. WHEELER (deceased), farmer, St. Charles, Ill., born in New Brunswick, B. A., Sept. 20, 1808; came to the United States in 1834, locating on a claim in St. Charles, Kane County, in the fall of that year; was a stanch Abolitionist in the ante-bellum days and an earnest supporter of Abraham Lincoln. He strongly advocated the necessity of good schools, and established one of the first free schools in the State. Mr. Wheeler was married Jan. 25, 1835, to Jerusha Young, and they became the parents of eight children, six of whom are now living. He died April 22, 1890.

J. B. T. WHEELER, farmer, St. Charles, Ill., born in the town where he now resides, April 25, 1842; grew to manhood on his father's farm. which he later worked on shares for twenty- four years (1866-1890), and at the time of his father's death (1890), bought the interests of the other heirs and has since owned the estate. Mr. Wheeler served in the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War. He was married Nov. 5.

1870, to Miss Anna Baker of Geneva, Ill., and they have four children now living.

JOHN WHEELER, lumber dealer and general contractor, Geneva, Ill., was born in Geneva, Jan. 18, 1866. son of Michael Wheeler, who is

JOHN WHEELER.

still living. He was graduated from the Geneva High School in 1883, and the following year engaged in the livery business in Geneva, in which he continued for twelve years. In 1897 he entered into the lumber trade in Geneva. with which he undertook a general contracting business. In 1902 he established a factory in Geneva for the manufacture of all kinds of packing boxes, which has since become the Cannon Box Company, with over a hundred employes. His career as a contractor practic- ally began with the building of the East Side School, in Geneva, in 1899, and since that time he has done much of the building connected with the "State Home for Girls" at Geneva. At present (1903) he is engaged in the erection of the first two cottages for the St. Charles "Home for Boys," an institution that is ex- pected to equal or surpass anything of the kind in the United States. When fully completed it will have over forty buildings, and will have cost more than $1,500.000. Mr. Wheeler was

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

married in 1892 to Miss Mary Cannon, daughter of Daniel Cannon, of Geneva.

EDWARD C. WHILDIN, retired farmer, Big Rock, Ill., born in Sugar Grove, Kane County, Ill., Dec. 26, 1844; was educated in the public schools, and began farming in Sugar Grove Township, Kane County. In 1879 he purchased a ťarın two miles north of the village of Big Rock, which he cultivated until 1893, when he retired from active labor. Mr. Whildin has occupied various important official positions during his active years. He was Assessor for four years, and was elected Supervisor in 1887, a position which he has filled continuously to the present time. For the last six years he has been Justice of the Peace. Mr. Whildin was married May 28, 1873, to Mary G, Taylor.

JOHN C. WHILDIN, farmer, Big Rock, was born July 12, 1843, in Cambria County, Penn., and came with his parents to Kane County in his early boyhood. Here he was educated in the public schools, and then began farming. He bought out the heirs to the old homestead in 1881, where he is now living. For over thirty years he has been a member of the School Board, and in 1903 was elected Highway Commissioner for the third term. In politics he is a Republican, and takes an active interest in local affairs. In 1864 he married Harriet S. Potter, and of this union have been born three boys and two girls.

JOHN R. WHILDIN (deceased), farmer, born in Big Rock Township, Jan. 28, 1850; educated in what was known as the "Old Center School," then located on his father's farm; followed farming all his life, and was well known as a successful manager and a high-minded gentle- man; married in 1877 Miss Mary E. Davis.

JOSEPH H. WHIPPLE, pioneer settler, Ba- tavia, Ill., born in Springfield, Otsego County, N. Y., Dec. 12, 1816; came to Illinois in 1846, locating in Batavia, where, during his business career, he was interested in the stone quarries of that place, in milling and other pursuits; served in numerous county and municipal offices.

AMASA L. WHITE ( deceased), Geneva, Ill., born in Windham County, Vt., Sept. 10, 1825; came with his parents to Illinois in 1839, and

grew to manhood in Geneva Township, Kane County; trained to farming and followed that occupation until 1860; engaged in the coal, grain and agricultural implement trade in the latter year in Geneva, and later was engaged in the United States Railway Mail service for five years. He was married in 1863 to Catherine E. Curtis, who still survives 'her husband, and resides on a part of the old Curtis homestead on Batavia Avenue. Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. White, Frank C., Mrs: Ellen King, and Mary E. Grenier, are living in 1903- Kate E. (White) Curtis died in 1895, and Fred- erick S. White died in 1900.

FRED O. WHITE (deceased), was born in Wrentham, Mass., Sept. 30, 1839, son of Fred- erick W. and Catherine (Ford) White, whose remote ancestors came from England and were among the first settlers of New England. The parents removed to Illinois in 1856, and settled in Sugar Grove Township, Kane County. Fred O. completed his schooling in the public schools and in Jennings Seminary, a well known Aurora institution. On the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in Company A, Thirty- sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, serving until November, 1863. In 1866 he became junior member of the lumber firm of Loomis & White, of Aurora. Mr. White continued in this busi- ness until 1870, when he became the head of the lumber firm of White & Todd. In 1881 he was one of the organizers of the Aurora Cream- ery Company, and was also one of the original stockholders and a director of the Aurora National Bank. The lumber firm of White & Todd is still in existence, though Mr. White and Mr. Todd are both deceased. Mr. White was a member of the building committee that erected the Aurora Cotton Mills, a charter member of the Home Building & Loan Association, and was for a time Director and Secretary of the Aurora Slate Mantel Company. He was Chair- man of the Republican County Central Com- mittee for four years, City Treasurer in 1869-70, and Mayor in 1885. The same year in which he was Mayor he was appointed a member of the State Commission to locate a Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, and did much to secure the erec- tion of the Soldiers' Memorial and Library Building in Aurora. For twenty years he was on the West Side Board of Education. A marked and ready writer, he was a frequent contributor to the "Chicago Inter-Ocean." He

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died May 30, 1892, in Aurora, and a public ineeting in the Opera House, presided over by Senator H. H. Evans, gave expression to the public feeling as to the loss of the community and to the general sense of his worth. In 1864 he married Miss Olivia M. Todd, daughter of Levi Todd, of Aurora.

WINFIELD S. WHITE, retired farmer, Batavia, Ill., was born in Geneva, Ill., Jan. 13, 1845, son of Mr. and Mrs. Amasa White, who settled in Geneva in 1839. He obtained his edu- cation in the public schools of Geneva and Batavia, and was engaged in farming in Black- berry Township, Kane County, and on the old White homestead ( Geneva) until 1885, when he removed to Batavia, where he has since resided. Mr. White was married in 1871 to Miss Elizabeth C. Conde, daughter of Cornelius B. Conde, one of the pioneer settlers of Batavia.

FRANK S. WHITMAN, Superintendent Illi- nois Northern Hospital for the Insane, was born in Belvidere, Ill., Sept. 27, 1849, was edu- cated in the Belvidere city schools and in the old Chicago University, and in 1872 graduated trom Hahnemann Medical College, receiving an honorary degree from the Chicago Homeo- pathic Medical College in 1878. He practiced medicine at Belvidere from 1872 until Jan. 12, 1899, when he was appointed Superintendent of the Illinois Northern Hospital for the Insane at Elgin, and at the present time (1904) is filling that position. Dr. Whitman is a member of the Illinois Homeopathic Association, the American Institute of Homeopathy, and the American Medico - Psychological Association. He is Professor of Mental Diseases at the Chi- cago Homeopathic Medical College.

AARON WHITNEY. retired farmer, Elburn, Ill., born in Chautauqua County, N. Y., April 30, 1828; educated in the public schools and came to Kane County, Ill., in 1854, where he was engaged in farming until 1903, when he retired.

WILLIAM N. WHITNEY, legislator, Geneva Lake, Wis., born in Ontario County, N. Y., Sept. 23, 1828, and received his education in the public schools and the West Walworth and Macedon Academies. For ten years he taught school, then came to DuPage County, Ill., in 1858, and two years later was elected Clerk

of the Circuit Court and ex-officio County Recorder, being re-elected to the same position four years later, serving in all eight years. In 1868 he was admitted to the bar, but never en- gaged in practice. In 1870 he was elected to the General Assembly from DuPage County; in 1872 was chosen a member of the State Board of Equalization, and in 1879 became connected with the Eastern Illinois Asylum for the In- sane, having charge of the accounts of the institution for eight years. Later he lived at Batavia, but now maintains his home in Geneva Lake, Wis.

DANIEL WHITNEY, dairy farmer, Campton Township, Kane County, was born in the town- ship where he now resides, Jan. 3, 1840; edu- cated in the district schools; remained on the parental homestead until 1870, when he pur- chased a farm near Wasco, where he has since resided; has held several township offices; mar- ried Feb. 16, 1863, Althea M. Babbitt.

WILLIAM C. WIDMAYER, farmer, Hamp- shire Township, Kane County, Ill., born in Wurtemburg, Germany, Dec. 31, 1844; came with his parents to America in 1851 and located in Kane County about 1854. In 1861 he en- listed in Company K, Fifty-second Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry and served in the Union army during the War of the Rebellion. About 1869 he purchased a farm in Hampshire Township. Mr. Widmayer has been three times married, his first wife being Miss Marguerite Huber, his second wife Louisa Gerling, and his present wife, whom he married March 10, 1886, was Mrs. Sarah (Shuler) Wink, of Chicago.

GEN. ELIJAH WILCOX, son of Gen. Sil- vanus Wilcox, who was a private in the Revo- lutionary War, and son of Silvanus Wilcox, a Captain in the same war, was born in the town of Glen, County of Montgomery, State of New York, May 10, 1792. He was married in the town of Florida in said county, on August 26, 1813, to Miss Sally Shuler, and eight sons (two of whom died in childhood) and two daughters were born of this union. The military title came to Gen. Elijah Wilcox, as well as to his father, by commission from the Governor of New York through service in the State Militia. Heavy financial losses following the panic of 1837 turned him toward the Far West, to seek homes for his children. With his eldest daugh-

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

ter and her husband, John Hill, and his three eldest sons, Silvanus, Daniel S. and Calvin E., he came to Elgin, 111., in the summer of 1839, where they purchased two large "claims," when he returned to the East. In May, 1844, the mother with the four younger children, Ed- ward S., Hannah M. ( Mrs. C. R. Collin), John S. and William H., came west, and the father, having adjusted his business affairs in his New York home, came the following winter. He at once became a prominent worker in the com- munity. March 10, 1843, he was elected a Trustee of the Elgin Academy, and was almost constantly kept upon some local or State Com- mission, locating roads, establishing schools and churches, and developing the new country. He represented the Kane County District as State Senator in the General Assembly of 1846-48. An ardent Universalist, his good wife was a Con- gregationalist, and he aided all churches. He was a Democrat in politics and a warm per- sonal friend of Stephen A. Douglas, the great patriotic leader of that party. At the outbreak of the rebellion in 1861, General Wilcox patriot- ically encouraged his three youngest sons to enlist for the war in maintenance of the Union; and widely respected and greatly be- loved, he died at his pioneer farm home in Kane County, on December 11, 1862. His excellent wife, who in her different sphere was equally and tenderly loved, died also in Elgin, at the home of her youngest daughter, April 2, 1875.

GEORGE R. WILCOX, merchant, Aurora, Kane County, Ill., was born in Otsego County, N. Y., Oct. 14, 1845, son of R. A. and Caroline ( Wells) Wilcox, who brought their family to Aurora in 1856. George R. Wilcox obtained his education in the schools of his native State and at Aurora. He was trained to a mercantile life, and in 1863, joined his father in a grocery store, and two years later engaged in the dry- goods business with T. M. Fulton under the name of Fulton & Co., later becoming sole proprietor of the business. During Mr. Wil- cox's career of the past forty years, he has been eminently successful as minager of the dry- goods business, which has continuously in- creased in volume from the date of its establish- ment to the present time (1903). Fraternally he is a charter member of the City Club of Aurora, and served as President of that organ- ization for two terms. In 1872 he was married to Miss Kate P. Plum, daughter of William V.

Plum, mention of whom is made elsewhere in this volume. Mr. and Mrs. Wilcox are the parents of five children: William Arnold, of Aurora; Jennie P., wife of C. C. Higgins, of McCook, Neb .; Georgia, Irene and Helen.

JOHN S. WILCOX.

JOHN SHULER WILCOX, born at Fulton- ville, Montgomery County, N. Y., March 18, 1833, the seventh son of Gen. Elijah and Sally (Shuler) Wilcox, came with his parents to Illinois in May, 1842, and grew to manhood upon the farm homestead on the southeast quarter of Section 4 in Elgin Township. He acquired his education by attendance upon the public schools during the winter, and about a year and a half spent at the "Liberal Institute," Galesburg, after which he studied law with his brother Silvanus and was admitted to the bar in 1855. On Sept. 3, 1856, he was married to Miss Lois A. Conger, who was born Feb. S. 1838, the daughter of Uzziah and Hannah (West) Conger, of Galesburg. Ill. Soon after the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion, Mr. Wilcox, in company with his brothers-ať- terwards Adjutant Edward S. and Captain Wil- liam H. Wilcox-enlisted in the Fifty-second Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he was successively promoted to the positions of Captain, Lieutenant-Colonel, Colonel and

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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.

Brevet Brigadier-General. During its term of service of over three years, this regiment took part in some of the most memorable battles of the war, including those of Shiloh, Corinth (siege and second battle), Iuka, Resaca, Kene- saw Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro and the "March to the Sea" with Sherman. General Wilcox is a member of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, and he and his two brothers just named are comrades of the Illinois Com- mandery of the Grand Army of the Republic and companions of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. His resi- dence has been at Elgin, and in his civil and business life he has held numerous positions, including those of member of the Elgin Acad- emy and Library Boards; Mayor of Elgin in 1867, and Postmaster of that city, appointed in 1876; Director of the First National Bank and the Elgin City Banking Company, of the Loan & Homestead Company, of the Packing Com- pany of the Kane County Agricultural Society, and of the Chicago & Pacific Railway Company, in connection with the latter also holding the position of General Solicitor. In religious be- lief General Wilcox is a Universalist, and in his political affiliations a stalwart Republican. His latest public service has been in connection with the preparation of the History of the Early Settlement of Kane County, preceding the Biographical Department of this work, to which he has devoted much faithful and laborious research with gratifying results. General Wil- cox and wife have been the parents of four children, of whom three are still living, viz .: Dwight Conger, now of Pine Bluff, Ark .; Marie W., now Mrs. Fits, of Reading, Mass .; and Miss Marguerite, at home with her parents, their second son, John Hill, having died, August 3, 1892. They have six grandchildren.

JOHN W. WILCOX, retired farmer, St. Charles, Ill., born at Colebrook, Conn., April 2, 1811; came to Kane County, Ill., in April, 1850 locating on a farm in Plato Township, removed to St. Charles Township in 1883, remaining there, on the farm he still owns, until 1901. Since the latter date he has lived retired in St. Charles village. Mr. Wilcox has been twice married, his first wife, whom he married Nov. 22, 1835, being Sallie Stowell, who died Dec. 29, 1865. June 4, 1867, he married for his second wife Mary McFaggart Marble.

SILVANUS WILCOX, eldest son of Gen. Eli- jah Wilcox, was born September 30, 1818, in Glen Township, Montgomery County, N. Y. At the age of fifteen years his father obtained his appointment to the West Point Military Acad- emy. Among his classmates were Generals W. T. Sherman, George H. Thomas and Stewart Van Vleit, and his room-mates were Generals H. W. Halleck and Schuyler Hamilton. For years these close friends held their delightful annual reunions, until one by one they were mustered from their exceptionally honored earthly careers into the higher spiritual lite. Mr. Wil- cox was married August 27, 1840, at Amster- dam, N. Y., to Miss Jane Mallery, and they had one son, also named Silvanus, who died un- married. The father was a man of fearless and unwavering integrity of thought, speech, and action, and a very able and conscientious law- yer. Although averse to holding public office, he was twice elected Judge of the Circuit Court, discharging his duties intelligently and with high integrity. He was an independent Union Democrat, and an active Universalist. He died January 15, 1902, holding in a marked degree the confidence and respect of the community.

WILLIAM H. WILCOX, lawyer and real- estate operator, Elgin, Ill., was born in Tilton- ville, Montgomery County, N. Y., Jan. 13, 1836, came with his parents to Kane County in 1842, and grew to manhood on his father's farm, receiving his education in the public schools and at Lombard University Galesburg. In 1859 he went to Missouri where he was con- ducting a plantation in Dade County when the Civil War broke out. In the spring of 1861 he

returned to Elgin, where he helped organize

Company G, of the Fifty-second Illinois Volun- teer Infantry, of which he was commissioned First Lieutenant. Shortly after the battle of Pittsburg Landing he became Captain of his company, and continued as its commander until mustered out at Savannah, Ga., after three years and four months of active and laborious service. During this period he participated in all the campaigns of the Army of the Tennes- sec, except the movement against Vicksburg, taking part in the battles of Pittsburg Landing. Iuka, Corinth, Chickamauga, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Lovejoy Station and many others. In 1865 Captain Wilcox returned to Elgin, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He

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devoted himself exclusively to his profession until 1881, when he turned his attention to real- estate operations, and has made four additions to Elgin and one each to St. Charles and Gen- eva. He was the promoter and builder of the Crown Electric Works at St. Charles, and was appointed Postmaster at Elgin in 1886 by Presi- dent Cleveland, holding the position one term. He is a member of the military orders of the Loyal Legion, the Grand Army of the Republic and the Society of the Army of the Tennessee. In 1857 he was married to Mary A. Green, of Galesburg, Ill., who died in 1878. The following year he married Helen E. Green, of Rockford, Mo.

CLARK WILDER (deceased ), pioneer settler, Aurora, Ill., born in New Hampshire, in 1801; came to Illinois in 1837, locating on 160 acres of land which is now within the city limits of Aurora, and was known as one of the lead- ing farmers of that locality; married in 1833 Miss Hannah Lord, and the living representa- tives of this pioneer family are: George W. Bert S., Mrs. Mary Lossing, Lewis and Joel M. Mr. Wilder died in 1870; his wife surviving until March, 1901, having reached the venerable age of over ninety years.

GEORGE WILDER, surveyor and civil en- gineer, Aurora, Ill., born in New York State. Dec. 14, 1833; came west with his parents in 1837; his first experience was with an engineer ing party engaged in the construction of the branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad running from Aurora, Batavia and Turner Junction, remaining with that company until 1853, since which time he has been em- ployed at different times by the Wabash, Minne- sota Midland, and Santa Fe Railways in construction work. Mr. Wilder was married in 1858 to Miss Anitta Perry, of Aurora, and they have five children now living: Perry, Wal- lace, A. K., Maud and Mabel.

SARDIS WILLEY (deceased), pioneer set- tler; born in Jefferson County, N. Y., in 1811: came to Illinois in the '30s, locating on land which he purchased from the Government in Sugar Grove Township, Kane County; became a prosperous farmer and at different times owned several tracts of land in Sugar Grove Township. He was married in 1847 to Miss Abi R. Brown, and their children are Mrs. Charlotte

Barnes, Frank, Mrs. Mary Thompson, and George. Mr. Willey died in 1896; his wife dying in 1865.

JOHN H. WILLIAMS, lawyer and Probate Judge Kane County, Elgin, Ill., was born in Waushara County, Wis., in 1857, son of Rev. Richard Williams, a Welsh Congregational min- ister, and with his parents when ten years old came to Kane County, Ill. He is a graduate of the West Aurora (Ill.) High School, class of 1876, and of the Law Department of the Uni- versity of Iowa. In the meantime he taught school three years, and was known as a very capable teacher. He was admitted to the bar in 1880, and two years later became a resident of Elgin, where he was elected City Treasurer in 1891 and 1892. He served six years in the Elgin City Council, and in 1902 was elected Probate Judge of Kane County.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 178

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