Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County, Part 179

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


USA > Illinois > Kane County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and History of Kane County > Part 179


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HENRY B. WILLIS.


HENRY B. WILLIS, lawyer and jurist, Elgin, Ill., was born in Brattleboro, Vt., May 8, 1849, and reared to manhood in DeKalb County, Ill., whither his parents removed in the early '50s. His education was secured in the country schools, Clark's Seminary at Aurora, and Hills- dale College, at Hillsdale, Mich. He read law with Judge Ranstead and Judge Kellum, both


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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.


of Elgin, and graduated from the Law College, at Albany, N. Y., in 1871. Two years later he began practice at Elgin, Ill., where he was elected State's Attorney in 1876. He also served as Mayor of Elgin in 1885 and 1886. In 1890 and 1891 he was Corporation Counsel of the city, and in 1891 was chosen Circuit Judge, an office to which he was re-elected to 1897 and again in 1903. He was married in 1874 to Miss Lucy E. Waite, of Elgin.


MILES W. WILLIS, retired farmer and grain- dealer, Elburn, Ill.born in Erie County, Penn .. March 22, 1836, son of Horace and Amy ( Mil- ler ) Willis, came with his parents to Illinois in 1844. They made their home in Blackberry Township, Kane County, where he completed his education, and became a farmer. He was married, Nov. 13, 1868, to Isabella Warne, daughter of Henry and Charity (Stone) Warne. Mr. Willis continued farming until 1863, when. in connection with his half-brother, J. W. Swain, he went into the hay and grain business. The following year he disposed of his interests in this connection, and bought largely of west- ern lands. He is a Mason, and is a stockholder in the Kane County Bank. He has done much traveling, in Texas caring for his stock and in Kansas looking after his land investments. At the present time his main business is looking after a farm which he has put into the hands of a renter.


JOHN W. WILSON (deceased), early settler of Sugar Grove Township, was born in New York, Nov. 30, 1812, son of John Wilson, a native of Acworth, N. H., and a descendant of Rev. John Wilson, a Puritan clergyman, who came to Boston in 1830. John W. Wilson, the Illinois pioneer, was reared to manhood in his native place, where he was trained to farming. Coming to Illinois in 1835 he purchased Gov- ernment land in Sugar Grove Township, for which he paid $1.25 an acre, and which he brought under cultivation, making it one of the finer farms of Kane County. A man of intelli- gence, character and integrity, he was well and favorably known. In 1844 he married Eliza Lamb, born in New York in 1820. His death occurred July 21, 1866, in Sugar Grove, and that of his wife, Feb. 9, 1871. In 1903 their living children were: Theophilus, Aurora, Il .; Grace (now Mrs. Howard) ; Jesse, of Colorado; Wil- liam W. and Joseph, of Sugar Grove.


IRA C. WILSON (deceased), Chicago, was born Jan. 29, 1837, near Batavia, Ill., son of Samuel Wilson, of whom a sketch appears on another page, and was reared and educated in his native town. As a young man he was engaged in the dry-goods business there, but


IRA C. WILSON.


sold out in 1860, and with his young wife, located in Golden, Colo., becoming one of the pioneer farmers of the Rocky Mountain region. After five years spent in the new Territory, he returned to Chicago, where he engaged in teaming business, which he conducted until his retirement from business in 1896. In the course of his long career he had many contracts for the handling of heavy machinery and the erec- tion of monuments, but he was proud of the fact that he never had an accident resulting in the injury of one of his employes. Among the important works which devolved upon him during this period was the placing in position of the immense machinery used at the North Chicago water-works and installing the plants of the Chicago City Railway. His personal standing was of the very highest character, and he was regarded as the soul of business integ- rity. While in Colorado he and his wife had many thrilling experiences: once having to flee from the Indians, at another time having a tor- nado sweep away their home, and once barely


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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.


escaping death from the spring floods, for which that mountain region is famous. As an Asses- sor at Golden, he had to cover more territory than would be included in an Illinois county. At different times he made six different trips across the plains before the coming of the rail- road. He died March 9, 1903, at his home in Douglas Park, Chicago, on the anniversary of the death of his father, and, like his father, of pneumonia. In 1860 he married Miss Mary Conde, daughter of Cornelius B. Conde, of Ba- tavia, a sketch of whose life will be found elsewhere in this work. The surviving mem- bers of the family are: Mrs. Wilson, and her daughter, Mrs. Minnie Wilson Hickok, of Ber- wyn, Ill.


WILLIAM W. WILSON, farmer and stock- raiser, Sugar Grove Township, was born in that township, March 17, 1856, and grew to manhood on his father's farin. His education was re- ceived in the local schools, and an academy at Forestville, N. Y., and he has become widely known as a representative Kane County farmer. For several years he has been a Trustee of the Sugar Grove Manual and Industrial Institute. In 1882 he married Miss Mattie J., daughter of Thomas and Eliza ( Benton) Smith, born in Kansas, but reared to womanhood in the home of her aunt, Mrs. Ruth Snow, of Sugar Grove Township. Their only child, Glidden S., is at home with his parents. Joseph Wilson, the youngest son of John W., born in Sugar Grove Township. Dec. 3. 1859, and educated in the home schools, has joined his brother, William W., in those extensive operations that have made their farm one of the most noted in Kane County. They give much attention to blooded stock, and handle very extensively high-grade Aberdeen - Angus cattle and Poland - China swine. William W. belongs to the Modern Woodmen.


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SAMUEL WILSON (deceased), pioneer citi- zen, Batavia, Kane County, Ill., was born in Vermont, March 1, 1805, son of Samuel Wilson, who was of New England ancestry, grew to manhood on a farm and became one of the early farmers in Kane County, having estab- lished his home at Nelson's Grove when the first settlement was made there. Later he re- moved to Batavia, where he became one of the first manufacturers, establishing the manufac- ture of fanning-mills and agricultural imple-


ments for which that city has since become famous. When gold was discovered in Califor- nia, his attention was attracted to the demand for cattle and horses on the Pacific Coast, and he made two trips overland to that region, tak- ing live-stock to market at that point. He returned each time by way of the Isthmus of Panama, thence by sea to New York and by rail to Batavia. Mr. Wilson was also engaged in gold-mining in California for several years prior to his death, which occurred at Batavia March 9, 1855. He married Lydia Shaw, who died in Batavia June 28, 1885.


ROBERT A. WINDETT, physician and sur- geon, Aurora, Ill., was born in Bristol, Kendall County, Ill., Oct. 5, 1860, and received his academic education at the Sugar Grove Normal Institute and Jennings Seminary, Aurora. He read medicine under the preceptorship of Dr. S. C. Gillett, of Aurora, and was a graduate of Rush Medical College, of Chicago, in 1887, at once beginning his practice in Aurora, where lie has continued to the present time. Mani- festing a special aptitude for surgery, he has given that branch of his profession much atten- tion, and has won a high standing as a skilled and scientific surgeon. Dr. Windett holds mem- bership in the American Medical Association, the Illinois State Medical Society, the Fox River Valley Medical Association and the Aurora Medical Society. In the Aurora Hospital staff of physicians and surgeons he is prominent, and has been long regarded as one of its most reliable members. The Doctor is a member of the West Side Board of Education, and is much interested in educational affairs. He was mar- ried in 1886 to Miss Evelyn S. West, of Chicago. Fraternally he belongs to the Modern Wood- men of America, the Knights of the Globe, the Sons of St. George and all the Masonic bodies of Aurora, being also a Noble of the Mystic Shrine, Medinah Temple, Chicago, and the Ori- ental Consistory (thirty-second degree), of the same city.


CLINTON D. WING, real-estate dealer. St Charles, Ill., was born at St. Johnsbury, Vt .. Feb. 4, 1835, the son of David and Cynthia ( De- mick ) Wing. David Wing, the father, was born at Rochester, Vt., Jan. 26, 1806, son of Isaac and Betsey ( Allen) Wing, the former born at Hard- wick, Mass., in 1770, and the latter a native of Pomfret, Vt. The maternal grandparents of


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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.


Clinton D. Wing were Keys and Annis (Sam- son) Demick, both natives of Massachusetts, while his mother. Cynthia Demnick, was born at Williston, Vt., in 1805. The paternal great-grand- parents were James and Rebecca ( Willis) Wing, natives of Hardwick, Mass., the former born Nov. 18, 1733, and the latter in 1735. The subject of this sketch received his educational training in St. Lawrence County, N. Y., and on Sept. 20, 1857, was married to Margaret Wyne, born at Massena, N. Y., and educated in the schools of St. Lawrence County, same State. Mr. and Mrs. Wing have had a family of nine children. of whom three are now living. Their names in order of birth are as follows: Viletta E, died April 29, 1865; Hortense M. and Clinton D, Jr., still living; Adelia J., died Sept. 30, 1865; Nettie, died Jan. 1, 1866; Hattie A., living; Min- nie L., died August 18, 1884; Fred M., died Au- gust 27. 1884; Charles A., died August 26, 1884. Mr. Wing has occupied several official positions, including that of President of the Board of Town Trustees, Mayor of St. Charles and mem- ber of the School Board. In politics he. is a Democrat, and in religious faith a Congrega- tionalist.


EDWIN W. WING, lawyer, Elgin, Ill., was born in the city where he now resides, July 18, 1859, son of the Hon. Washington and Adeline (Willetts) Wing; was a student in the public schools and Elgin Academy, and graduated from the Northwestern University Law School (Chicago) in 1900; was admitted to the bar the year of his graduation. He has since practiced his profession in Elgin, though more or less closely identified with the farming interests of Kane County, owning land and formerly hav- ing been actively engaged in farming. He was married in 1886 to Miss Esther Pierce, daughter of James T. and Sarah Pierce, of the town of Wayne, DuPage County, Ill.


WILLIAM H. WING (deceased), lawyer, Elgin. Ill., was born in Wasntenaw County, Mich., Jan. 3, 1836, the son of Washington and Catharine ( Himes) Wing, and died at Elgin in 1902. His parents were natives of New York, and became pioneer settlers in Michigan. His father represented Livingston County in the New York Legislature in 1845-46. The elder Wing came to Kane County, Ill., in 1846, and was a farmer near Elgin until his death, in 1888. The son was educated in the schools of Michigan,


'in Elgin, and at Lombard University, Gales- burg, Ill. He read law with Judge Sylvanus Wilcox, of Elgin, and attended the law depart- ment of the University of Michigan, from which he graduated and was admitted to the bar in 1868. He began his practice at Elgin, where he continued with marked success until his death. He was prominently identified with the banking interests of Elgin as attorney for the First National Bank, and one of its direct- ors. He was a stockholder in the Elgin Na- tional Bank. He had extensive farm holdings, and was the Treasurer of the Northern Illinois Hospital for the Insane for five years. He served also as Attorney for the city of Elgin. and in his will he left the city that beautiful tract of land now known as Wing Park. Dur- ing his life his hand was ever open to the Sherman Hospital, the Abbie C. Wing School, the Young Men's Christian Association and the Universalist church. His wife, Abbie C. Wing, educator, was born in New Hampshire, daugh- ter of Henry and Martha Saunders, and was educated in the schools of her native State. She came to Kane County as a teacher in 1854, and was married to Mr. Wing in 1861,, but con- tinued teaching in Elgin for some . time and gained much distinction as Principal of the Elgin High School. In later years she was in- terested in various educational movements, and is remembered as one of the most accomplished instructors connected with school work in Kane County. The Abbie C. Wing School, of Elgin, was named in her honor. She lost her life in a fire which consumed her house on Highland Avenue, in Elgin, March 20, 1897.


LAWSON A. WINSLOW (deceased), physi- cian, was born in Coleraine, Mass., December 3, 1821, son of Dr. George Winslow, grew to manhood in his native State, and received his academic education in the schools of Charle- mont and Pittsfield, Mass. In 1846 he came west and first lived in Big Rock Township, Kane County, Ill., where his father also lived and practiced medicine in the later years of his life. He was graduated from the Iowa Medical College at Keokuk, Iowa, and began the active practice of his profession in Sugar Grove, Ill. From there he came to Aurora in 1857 and practiced continuously in that city until failing health compelled him to retire from profes- sional work. This was about 1888, and at that time lis professional career in Aurora had cov-


944


HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.


ered a period of more than thirty years, and for more than forty years he had been a leading member of his profession in Kane County. Although he had a conscientious and chivalrous regard for all the duties of the medical practi- tioner and allowed nothing to interfere with its


LAWSON A. WINSLOW.


requirements, he was also prominent for many years in Aurora as a man of affairs. He was one of the founders of the Second National Bank of Aurora and of the Aurora Silver Plate Manufacturing Company, in both of which cor- porations he was a director. An ardent mem- ber of the Republican party from the date of its foundation until his death, he took an active part in many political campaigns, but never as a candidate for office. It is of interest to note, in this connection, that the first Republican convention held in the State of Illinois met in Geneva, Kane County, and of this convention Dr. Winslow was Secretary and his father-in- law, Jethro Hatch, was President. He married in 1851 Mercella Prudence Hatch, daughter of Jethro Hatch, a pioneer settler in Sugar Grove Township, Kane County. Dr. Winslow died March 27, 1891 in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to which place he had gone in the hope of bene- fitting his health. Mrs. Winslow died January 24, 1902, in Pasadena, California .- CHARLES E. WINSLOW, physician, eldest son of the preced-


ing, was born in Sugar Grove, Ill., Aug. 19, 1855; was educated at Oberlin College, Oberlin, Ohio, studied medicine under the preceptorship of his father and graduated from Rush Medical College, Chicago, in the class of 1881. For some time thereafter he was Assistant Physician and Surgeon at the Marine Hospital, Chicago, and later practiced several years in Aurora. Since 1900 he has been resident physician at Bartlett Springs, Cal., a noted health resort. He married in 1883, Miss Louise N. Tracy of Mansfield, Ohio. -FAYETTE D. WINSLOW, lawyer, second living son of Dr. Lawson A. Winslow, was born in Sugar Grove, Ill., Aug. 26, 1857. He grew up in Aurora and, after graduating from the Aurora High School, finished his academic studies at Beloit College, Beloit, Wis., graduat- ing from that institution in the class of 1879. In 1883 he was graduated from the law depart- ment of Columbia University, New York, and was admitted to the bar in the Supreme Court of Illinois in 1885. He has since practiced his profession and given attention to various busi- ness interests in Aurora, and is the only repre- sentative of this pioneer family now residing in the city. He married in 1891 Miss Jennie Waldo Tracy, of Mansfield, Ohio .- MARTHA M. WINSLOW, daughter of Dr. Lawson A. Wins- low, was born in Aurora, obtained her early education in the schools of that city and was graduated from Oberlin College in the class of 1879. She began teaching school under the auspices of the New West Education Commis- sion, in Utah and New Mexico, and has since devoted herself to that profession. After teach- ing some years she took a special course in Botany at Chicago University, Chicago, and still later pursued a course of study at Leland Stanford University, Palo Alto, Cal., which in- stitution conferred upon her the degree of Master of Arts in 1898. She is now teacher of Botany and Zoology in the high school at Pasa- dena, Cal.


MARTIN A. WITHEY, farmer and threshing- inachine operator, was born June 14, 1853, in Alleghany County, N. Y., and began his educa- tion in the public schools of his native State. continuing it in the schools of Kane County, whither his parents removed when he was eleven years old. He began life for himself as a farmer, which he has continued to the present time. For seven years he lived in Iowa, and on returning to Kane County he bought a farm


-


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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.


one-half mile northwest of Kaneville. He is a member of the Mystic Workers of Kaneville. He was married Feb. 14, 1878, to Miss Emma L. Powley, a native of Kane County, and they are the parents of three sons and one daugh- ters.


WILLARD WISWELL.


WILLARD WISWELL (deceased), farmer, St. Charles, Ill., was born in Mallet Bay, Vt., a son of Darius Wiswell, of the same State. Mr. Wiswell came to Blackberry, Ill., in 1848, bring- ing with him his family, there bought a farm and was engaged in its cultivation twenty years. In 1868 he removed to St. Charles, where he lived retired from active business still owning a large farm, which he rented to a trusty tenant, at Mellen's Lake, near Bald Mound. Mr. Wiswell was twice married, first to Miss Rebecca Chiever, of Syracuse, N. Y., July 26, 1829, who died Feb. 13, 1874; and as his second wife to Mrs. William Barnes, for- merly Mrs. Andrew Krimmer, whose husband was an early settler of Kane County. Mr. Wiswell died at his home in St. Charles, Aug. 12, 1890.


NELSON WOLCOTT, pioneer, Batavia, 111, born in Sandisfield, Berkshire County, Mass., Jan. 4, 1806, and was reared in his native town, receiving his education in the local schools and


Lenox Academy. In 1826 he engaged in a store in Livingston County, N. Y., with an elder brother, and went from there to Java, Wyom- ing County, whence he removed to Attica in 1847. When Wyoming County was organized in 1841, he was elected the first Clerk of the County, and while a resident of Java, filled various municipal offices. In 1855 he removed from Attica, N. Y., to Batavia, Ill., and engaged in mercantile pursuits. which he followed until 1863. Since that time he has lived retired, and is now a resident of Batavia, at the advanced age of ninety-eight years. In 1836 he married Miss Alvina Wright, of Middlebury, N. Y., who died in Batavia in 1893. Eight children born to Mr. and Mrs. Wolcott, were all living in 1903, the youngest being then fifty-two years of age.


HENRY K. WOLCOTT.


HENRY K. WOLCOTT, manufacturer, Bata- via, Ill., born in Java, Wyoming County, N. Y., April 14, 1840, removed to Attica in 1848, where he was educated in the public schools. In 1856 he located with his father in Batavia, Ill., where they engaged in mercan- tile business, but in 1861 this connection was broken by his enlistment in the Union Army, as First Sergeant of Company I, Forty- second Illinois Volunteer Infantry. He made a good record as a soldier, and was mustered


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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.


out in 1866 with the rank of Major. In 1866 and '67, Major Wolcott was engaged in the drug and grocery business, and the following year became a member of the Newton Wagon Com- pany. When the company was incorporated in 1873, he became its Secretary and Treasurer, and twenty years later was elected President and Treasurer, in which position (1903) he is still serving. In politics he is a Republican and fraternally is a member of the Loyal Legion.


SEYMOUR A. WOLCOTT, Secretary and Treasurer Bellevue Place Sanitarium, Batavia, Ill., born in Java, N. Y., March 8, 1847, son of Nelson and Alvina (Wright) Wolcott, was edu- cated in the public schools and at Batavia Institute, Batavia, Ill., and was trained to the druggist's trade in which he was engaged in Batavia for fifteen years. He then became con- nected with the management of the Bellevue Place Sanitarium, which has continued to the present time (1903) covering a period of twenty years. Mr. Wolcott was married in 1871 to Miss Olivia Patterson, daughter of Dr. Richard J. Patterson, Batavia, but who died in 1892. In 1894 he was married to his present wife, Miss Mary I. Emerson, who was born and reared in the State of Maine.


CLARK WOOD (deceased), Batavia, Ill., born in Kane County, June 11, 1844, son of Samuel and Eveline (Pierce) Wood. His parents came from Jefferson County, N. Y., and settled on what was known as the "Bald Mound" farm, and were among the first settlers of Kane County. In 1864 he enlisted in the Union Army, and served until the close of the war in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry; appointed super- intendent of the County Alms House in 1870. filling that office until the time of his death which occurred Feb. 2, 1888. He was married in 1859 to Miss Celia S. Young, of Batavia.


D. E. WOOD, manufacturer of butter and cheese, Elgin, Ill., born at West Winfield, Her- kimer County, N. Y., Dec. 16, 1846; came to Illinois in 1866, locating first at Richmond, where he established a butter and cheese fac- tory; came to Elgin in 1874 and has since been identified with the butter and cheese industry in that locality. He is President of the D. E.


Wood Butter Company, President of the Elgin National Bank, and Vice-President and Treas- urer of the Creamery Package Manufacturing Company, of Chicago .; was one of the organ- izers of the Elgin Board of Trade in March, 1872.


THEODORE WOOD, coal merchant, Batavia, Ill., born in Jefferson County, N. Y., May 17, 1840, son of Samuel and Mary (Pierce) Wood; came with his parents to Illinois in 1842, locat- ing in Blackberry Township, Kane County, where he obtained his education in the pioneer schools and worked on the farm; in 1862 he en- listed in the One Hundred and Twenty-fourth Regiment Illinois Volunteer Infantry, serving until 1866; located in Batavia after the war, where he has since resided and has been con- tinuously engaged in the coal and grain trade; served as Mayor of Batavia, besides holding other municipal offices; married in 1866 Miss Lizzie B. Dolson, of Detroit, Mich.


L. E. WOODWARD, banker, Aurora, Ill., born in Plano, Kendall County, Ill., Jan. 31, 1873, son of O. K. Woodward, of Washington, began his business career when eighteen years old as a clerk in a store in Big Rock. After remaining there two years, he came to Aurora in 1893 to accept a position as bookkeeper in the old Second National Bank, which he retained for nine years. When the Aurora Trust and Sav- ings Bank was organized, he was chosen Cashier, and is now officiating in that capacity.


JAMES WRIGHT, farmer, East Plato, Kane County, Ill., was born in East Plato, Kane County, Ill., March 6, 1859, son of William and Sylvia (Seward) Wright, reared on the farm and educated in the public schools. He beganl life with little capital, but by industry and economy was able to buy the family homestead, and thus became owner of one of the very finest farm properties in Kane County. Here he was engaged in dairy farming and horse breeding until his death, which occurred Jan. 23, 1900. He was a member of the M. W. A., and was very active in its behalf. In 1885 he was married in Miss Harriet Tucker, daughter of Charles and Clara (Andrews) Tucker, resi- dents of Plato Township. The living children cf this couple are: Merrill Elmer, Ida May, Lester Leroy, Orris I .. and Dora Effie Irene.


947


HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.


WILLIAM WRIGHT (deceased), pioneer, East Plato, Kane County, born in London, England, in 1813, came to the United States in 1836, and shortly afterward settled in Plato Township, Kane County, where he purchased Government land and engaged in farming, continuing this occupation until his death in 1872. A worthy gentleman and an estimable pioneer in all respects, he was highly regarded by all who had to do with him in the early days. His wife, Miss Sylvia Seward, was born in Binghamton, N. Y., a daughter of Levi and Harriet (Spencer) Seward, pioneer settlers in Kane County, where they reared a family of ten children, six of whom were living in 1903.


GEORGE R. YARWOOD, Assessor, Elgin, Ill., was born in Elgin Oct. 26, 1859, son of James R. and Sarah (Walter) Yarwood, and grandson of R. L. Yarwood, who came to Elgin in 1844. R. L. Yarwood came from Oriskany, N. Y., as the representative of the woolen manufacturing and merchandising interests of the Dexters, Eastern capitalists who operated largely in the West at an early day. Later the Yarwoods were prominent among the merchants of Elgin for many years. The elder Yarwood died in Elgin in 1864, and the son, James R., in Merced, Cal., in 1878. The maternal grandfather of George R. Yarwood came to Elgin in 1844, so that in both lines his ancestors were pioneers in that locality. George R. Yarwood was reared in Elgin, where he has spent the whole of his life; was educated in the public schools and Elgin Academy; and was for three years, while a young man, junior partner in the firm of Sherman & Yarwood, photographers, George H. Sherman being the senior member. After this he was engaged in the live-stock trade from 1880 to 1883, and from 1883 until 1892 was senior partner of the firm of Yarwood Brothers, who were engaged in dairy-farming and breed- ing horses near Elgin. In 1892 he was elected Tax Collector for Elgin, and the same year was appointed Deputy Assessor, holding the first-named office one year, and the latter for four years. In 1896 he was elected Assessor for Elgin, and is now filling his ninth con- secutive term in that position. For several months prior to making the assessment for 1898, he was Deputy County Clerk, acting as Clerk of the Probate and County Courts of Kane County. Farming and other business matters have occupied his attention when not




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