Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I, Part 12

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Church, Charles A., 1857-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 724

USA > Illinois > Winnebago County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I > Part 12

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allowing them to become Notaries Public, and had always been a champion for equal rights for women in the professions and as citizens. He was a Second Lieutenant of the One Hundred and Fifth Regiment, Illinois Militia, in 1848; presided over the American Woman's Suffrage Association at its organization in Cleveland; served as Presi- dent of the Chicago Press Club, of the Chicago Bar Association, and, for a number of years, as Historian of the latter; was one of the founders and President of the Union League Club, besides being associated with many other social and busi- ness organizations. He was identified in a business capacity with "The Chicago Legal News," founded by his wife in 1868, and after her death became its editor. Judge Bradwell's death occurred Nov. 29, 1907 .- Myra Colby (Bradwell), the wife of Judge Bradwell, was born at Manchester, Vt., Feb. 12, 1831-being descended on her mother's side from the Chase family to which Bishop Philander Chase and Salmon P. Chase, the latter Secretary of the Treasury and Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by appointment of Abraham Lincoln, belonged. In infancy she was brought to Portage, N. Y., where she remained until she was twelve years of age, when her family re- moved west. She attended school in Kenosha, Wis., and a seminary at Elgin, afterwards being engaged in teaching. On May 18, 1852, she was married to Judge Bradwell, almost immediately going to Memphis, Tenn., where, with the assist- ance of her husband, she conducted a select school for some time, also teaching in the public schools, when they returned to Chicago. In the early part of the Civil War she took a deep interest in the welfare of the soldiers in the field and their families at home, becoming President of the Soldiers' Aid Society, and was a leading spirit in the Sanitary Fairs held in Chicago in 1863 and in 1865. After the war she commenced the study of law and, in 1868, began the publication of "The Chicago Legal News," with which she re- mained identified until her death-also publishing biennially an edition of the session laws after each session of the General Assembly. After passing a most creditable examination, applica- tion was made for her admission to the bar in 1871, but denied in an elaborate decision rendered by Judge C. B. Lawrence of the Supreme Court of the State, on the sole ground of sex, as was also done by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1873, on the latter occasion Chief Justice Chase dissenting. She was finally admitted to the bar on March 28, 1892, and was the first lady member of the State Bar Associ-

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

ation. Other organizations with which she was identified embraced the Illinois State Press Association, the Board of Managers of the Sol- diers' Home (in war time), the "Illinois Industrial School for Girls" at Evanston, the Washingtonian Home, the Board of Lady Managers of the World's Columbian Exposition, and Chairman of the Woman's Committee on Jurisprudence of the World's Congress Auxiliary of 1893. Although much before the public during the latter years of her life, she never lost the refinement and graces which belong to a true woman. Died, at her home in Chicago, Feb. 14, 1894.

BRAIDWOOD, a city in Will County, incorpo- rated in 1860; is 58 miles from Chicago, on the Chicago & Alton Railroad; an important coal- mining point, and in the heart of a rich agricultural region. It has a bank and a weekly newspaper. Pop. (1900), 3,279; (1910), 1,958.

BRANSON, Nathaniel W., lawyer, was born in Jacksonville, Ill., May 29, 1837; was educated in the private and public schools of that city and at Illinois College, graduating from the latter in 1857; studied law with David A. Smith, a promi- nent and able lawyer of Jacksonville, and was admitted to the bar in January, 1860, soon after establishing himself in practice at Petersburg, Menard County, where he continued to reside. In 1867 Mr. Branson was appointed Register in Bankruptcy for the Springfield District - a po- sition which he held thirteen years. He was also elected Representative in the General Assembly in 1872, by re-election in 1874 serving four years in the stormy Twenty-eighth and Twenty-ninth General Assemblies; was a Delegate from Illinois to the National Republican Convention of 1876, and served for several years most efficiently as a Trustee of the State Institution for the Blind at Jacksonville, part of the time as President of the Board. Politically a conservative Republican, and in no sense an office-seeker, the official positions assigned to him came unsought and in recognition of his fitness and qualifications. Died Feb. 27, 1907.

BRAYMAN, Mason, lawyer and soldier, was born in Buffalo, N. Y., May 23, 1813; brought up as a farmer, became a printer and edited "The Buffalo Bulletin," 1834-35; studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1836; removed west in 1837, was City Attorney of Monroe, Mich., in 1838 and became editor of "The Louisville Adver- tiser" in 1841. In 1842 he opened a law office in Springfield, Ill., and the following year was appointed by Governor Ford a commissioner to adjust the Mormon troubles, in which capacity

he rendered valuable service. In 1844-45 he was appointed to revise the statutes of the State. Later he devoted much attention to railroad enterprises, being attorney of the Illinois Central Railroad, 1851-55; then projected the construc- tion of a railroad from Bird's Point, opposite Cairo, into Arkansas, which was partially com- pleted before the war, and almost wholly de- stroyed during that period. In 1861 he entered the service as Major of the Twenty-ninth Illinois Volunteers, taking part in a number of the early battles, including Fort Donelson and Shiloh; was promoted to a colonelcy for meritorious con- duct at the latter, and for a time served as Adjutant-General on the staff of General McCler- nand; was promoted Brigadier-General in Sep- tember, 1862, at the close of the war receiving the brevet rank of Major-General. After the close of the war he devoted considerable atten- tion to reviving his railroad enterprises in the South; edited "The Illinois State Journal," 1872-73; removed to Wisconsin and was ap- pointed Governor of Idaho in 1876, serving four years, after which he returned to Ripon, Wis. Died. in Kansas City, Feb. 27, 1895.

BREESE, a village in Clinton County, on Baltimore & Ohio S. W. Railway, 39 miles east of St. Louis; has coal mines, water system, bank and weekly newspaper. Pop. (1910), 2,128.

BREESE, Sidney, statesman and jurist, was born at Whitesboro, N. Y., (according to the generally accepted authority) July 15, 1800. Owing to a certain sensitiveness about his age in his later years, it has been exceedingly difficult to secure authentic data on the subject; but his arrival at Kaskaskia in 1818, after graduating at Union College, and his admission to the bar in 1820, have induced many to believe that the date of his birth should be placed somewhat earlier. He was related to some of the most prominent families in New York, including the Livingstons and the Morses, and, after his arrival at Kaskas- kia, began the study of law with his friend Elias Kent Kane, afterwards United States Senator. Meanwhile, having served as Postmaster at Kas- kaskia, he became Assistant Secretary of State, and, in December, 1820, superintended the re- moval of the archives of that office to Vandalia, the new State capital. Later he was appointed Prosecuting Attorney, serving in that position from 1822 till 1827, when he became United . States District Attorney for Illinois. He was the first official reporter of the Supreme Court, issuing its first volume of decisions; served as Lieutenant-Colonel of volunteers during the

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

Black Hawk War (1832); in 1835 was elected to the circuit bench, and, in 1841, was advanced to the Supreme bench, serving less than two years, when he resigned to accept a seat in the United States Senate, to which he was elected in 1843 as the successor of Richard M. Young, defeating Stephen A. Douglas in the first race of the latter for the office. While in the Senate (1843-49) he served as Chairman of the Committee on Public Lands, and was one of the first to suggest the construction of a transcontinental railway to the Pacific. He was also one of the originators and active promoters in Congress of the Illinois Cen- tral Railroad enterprise. He was Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives in 1851; again became Circuit Judge in 1855 and returned to the Supreme bench in 1857 and served more than one term as Chief Justice, the last being in 1873-74. His home during most of his public life in Illinois was at Carlyle. His death occurred at Pinckneyville, June 28, 1878.

BRENTANO, Lorenzo, was born at Mannheim, in the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany, Nov. 14, 1813; was educated at the Universities of Heidelberg and Freiburg, receiving the degree of LL.D., and attaining high honors, both profes- sional and political. He was successively a member of the Baden Chamber of Deputies and of the Frankfort Parliament, and always a leader of the revolutionist party. In 1849 he became President of the Provisional Republican Gov- ernment of Baden, but was, before long, forced to find an asylum in the United States. He first settled in Kalamazoo County, Mich., as a farmer, but, in 1859, removed to Chicago, where he was admitted to the Illinois bar, but soon entered the field of journalism, becoming editor and part proprietor of "The Illinois Staats Zeitung." He held various public offices, being elected to the Legislature in 1862, serving five years as Presi- dent of the Chicago Board of Education, was a Republican Presidential Elector in 1868, and United States Consul at Dresden in 1872 (a gen- eral amnesty having been granted to the participants in the revolution of 1848), and Representative in Congress from 1877 to 1879. Died, in Chicago, Sept. 17, 1891.

BRIDGEPORT, a town of Lawrence County, on the Baltimore & Ohio S. W. Railroad, 14 miles west of Vincennes, Ind., in oil field; has a bank and one weekly paper. Pop. (1900), 487; (1910), 2,703.

BRIDGEPORT, a former suburb (now a part of the city) of Chicago, located at the junction of the Illinois & Michigan Canal with the South Branch of the Chicago River. It is now the

center of the large slaughtering and packing industry.

BRIDGEPORT & SOUTH CHICAGO RAIL- WAY. (See Chicago & Northern Pacific Railroad.)

BRIGHTON, a village of Macoupin County, at the intersection of the Chicago & Alton and the Rock Island and St. Louis branch of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railways; coal is mined here; has a newspaper. Population (1880), 691; (1890), 742; (1900), 660; (1910), 595.

BRIMFIELD, a town of Peoria County, on the .Buda and Rushville branch of the Chicago, Bur- lington & Quincy Railway, 38 miles south of Buda; coal-mining and farming are the chief industries. It has one weekly paper and a bank. Pop. (1890), 719; (1900), 677; (1910), 576.

BRISTOL, Frank Milton, clergyman, was born in Orleans County, N. Y., Jan. 4, 1851; came to Kankakee, Ill., in boyhood, and having lost his father at 12 years of age, spent the following years in various manual occupations until about nineteen years of age, when, having been con- verted, he determined to devote his life to the ministry. Through the aid of a benevolent lady, he was enabled to get two years' (1870-72) instruc- tion at the Northwestern University, at Evans- ton, afterwards supporting himself by preaching at various points, meanwhile continuing his studies at the University until 1877. After com- pleting his course he served as pastor of some of the most prominent Methodist churches in Chi- cago, his last charge in the State being at Evans- ton. In 1897 he was transferred to Washington City, becoming pastor of the Metropolitan M. E. Church, attended by President Mckinley Dr. Bristol is an author of some repute and an orator of recognized ability.

BROADWELL, Norman M., lawyer, was born in Morgan County, Ill., August 1, 1825; was edu- cated in the common schools and at McKendree and Illinois Colleges, but compelled by failing health to leave college without graduating; spent some time in the book business, then began the study of medicine with a view to benefiting his own health, but finally abandoned this and, about 1850, commenced the study of law in the office of Lincoln & Herndon at Springfield. Having been admitted to the bar, he practiced for a time at Pekin, but, in 1854, returned to Springfield, where he spent the remainder of his life. In 1860 he was elected as a Democrat to the House of Representatives from Sangamon County, serving in the Twenty-second General Assembly. Other offices held by him included those of County Judge (1863-65) and Mayor of the city of Spring-

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

field, to which last position he was twice elected (1867 and again in 1869). Judge Broadwell was one of the most genial of men, popular, high- minded and honorable in all his dealings. Died, in Springfield, Feb. 28, 1893.

BROOKS, John Flavel, educator, was born in Oneida County, New York, Dec. 3, 1801; graduated at Hamilton College, 1828; studied three years in the theological department of Yale College; was ordained to the Presbyterian min- istry in 1831, and came to Illinois in the service of the American Home Missionary Society. After preaching at Collinsville, Belleville and other points, Mr. Brooks, who was a member of the celebrated "Yale Band," in 1837 assumed the principalship of a Teachers' Seminary at Waverly, Morgan County, but three years later removed to Springfield, where he established an academy for both sexes. Although finally compelled to abandon this, he continued teaching with some interruptions to within a few years of his death, which occurred in 1886. He was one of the Trus- tees of Illinois College from its foundation up to his deatlı.

BROSS, William, journalist, was born in Sus- sex County, N. J., Nov. 14, 1813, and graduated with honors from Williams College in 1838, hav- ing previously developed his physical strength by much hard work upon the Delaware and Hudson Canal, and in the lumbering trade. For five years after graduating he was a teacher, and settled in Chicago in 1848. There he first engaged in bookselling, but later embarked in journalism. His first publication was "The Prairie Herald," a religious paper, which was discontinued after two years. In 1852, in connection with John L. Scripps, he founded "The Democratic Press," which was consolidated with "The Tribune" in 1858, Mr. Bross retaining his connection with the new concern. He was always an ardent free- soiler, and a firm believer in the great future of Chicago and the Northwest. He was an enthusi- astic Republican, and, in 1856 and 1860, served as an effective campaign orator. In 1864 he was the successful nominee of his party for Lieuten- ant-Governor. This was his only official position outside of a membership in the Chicago Common Council in 1855. As a presiding officer, he was dignified yet affable, and his impartiality was shown by the fact that no appeals were taken from his decisions. After quitting public life he devoted much time to literary pursuits, deliver- ing lectures in various parts of the country. Among his best known works are a brief.“His- tory of Chicago," "History of Camp Douglas,"

and "Tom Quick." Died, in Chicago, Jan. 27, 1890.

BROWN, Henry, lawyer and historian, was born at Hebron, Tolland County, Conn., May 13, 1789-the son of a commissary in the army of General Greene of Revolutionary fame; gradu- ated at Yale College, and, when of age, removed to New York, later studying law at Albany, Canandaigua and Batavia, and being admitted to the bar about 1813, when he settled down in practice at Cooperstown; in 1816 was appointed Judge of Herkimer County, remaining on the bencli until about 1824. He then resumed prac- tice at Cooperstown, continuing until 1836, when he removed to Chicago. The following year he was elected a Justice of the Peace, serving two years, and, in 1842, became Prosecuting Attorney of Cook County. During this period he was engaged in writing a "History of Illinois," which was published in New York in 1844 This was regarded at the time as the most voluminous and best digested work on Illinois history that had as yet been published. In 1846, on assuming the Presidency of the Chicago Lyceum, he delivered an inaugural entitled "Chicago, Present and Future," which is still preserved as a striking prediction of Chicago's future greatness. Origi- nally a Democrat, he became a Freesoiler in 1848. Died of cholera, in Chicago, May 16, 1849.

BROWN, James B., journalist, was born in Gilmanton, Belknap County, N. H., Sept. 1, 1833-his father being a member of the Legisla- ture and Selectman for his town. The son was educated at Gilmanton Academy, after which he studied medicine for a time, but did not gradu- ate. In 1857 he removed West, first settling at Dunleith, Jo Daviess County, Ill., where he became Principal of the public schools; in 1861 was elected County Superintendent of Schools for Jo Daviess County, removing to Galena two years later and assuming the editorship of "The Gazette" of that city. Mr. Brown also served as Postmaster of Galena for several years. Died, Feb. 13, 1896.

BROWN, James N., agriculturist and stock- man, was born in Fayette County, Ky., Oct. 1, 1806; came to Sangamon County, Ill., in 1833, locating at Island Grove, where he engaged extensively in farming and stock-raising. He served as Representative in the General Assem- blies of 1840, '42, '46, and '52, and in the last was instrumental in securing the incorporation of the Illinois State Agricultural Society, of which he was chosen the first President, being re-elected in 1854. He was one of the most enterprising grow-

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

ers of blooded cattle in the State and did much to introduce them in Central Illinois; was also an earnest and influential advocate of scientific education for the agricultural classes and an efficient colaborer with Prof. J. B. Turner, of Jacksonville, in securing the enactment by Con- gress, in 1862, of the law granting lands for the endowment of Industrial Colleges, out of which grew the Illinois State University and institu- tions of like character in other States. Died, Nov. 16, 1868.

BROWN, William, lawyer and jurist, was born June 1, 1819, in Cumberland, England, his par- ents emigrating to this country when he was eight years old, and settling in Western New York. He was admitted to the bar at Rochester, in October, 1845, and at once removed to Rock- ford, Ill., where he commenced practice. In 1852 he was elected State's Attorney for the Four- teenth Judicial Circuit, and, in 1857, was chosen Mayor of Rockford. In 1870 he was elected to the bench of the Circuit Court as successor to Judge Sheldon, later was promoted to the Su- preme Court, and was re-elected successively in 1873, in '79 and '85. Died, at Rockford, Jan. 15, 1891.

BROWN, William H., lawyer and financier, was born in Connecticut, Dec. 20, 1796; spent his boyhood at Auburn, N. Y., studied law, and, in 1818, came to Illinois with Samuel D. Lock- wood (afterwards a Justice of the State Supreme Court), descending the Ohio River to Shawnee- town in a flat-boat. Mr. Brown visited Kaskas- kia and was soon after appointed Clerk of the United States District Court by Judge Nathaniel Pope, removing, in 1820, to, Vandalia, the new State capital, where he remained until 1835. He then removed to Chicago to accept the position of Cashier of the Chicago branch of the State Bank of Illinois, which he continued to fill for many years. He served the city as School Agent for thirteen years (1840-53), managing the city's school fund through a critical period with great discretion and success. He was one of the group of early patriots who successfully resisted the attempt to plant slavery in Illinois in 1823-24; was also one of the projectors of the Chicago & Galena Union Railroad, was President of the Chicago Historical Society for seven years and connected with many other local enterprises. He was an ardent personal friend of President Lincoln and served as Representative in the Twenty-second General Assembly (1860-62). While making a tour of Europe he died of paraly- sis at Amsterdam, June 17, 1867.

BROWN COUNTY, situated in the western part of the State, with an area of 306 square miles, and a population (1890) of 11,951; was cut off from Schuyler and made a separate county in May, 1839, being named in honor of Gen. Jacob Brown. Among the pioneer settlers were the Vandeventers and Hambaughs, John and David Six, William McDaniel, Jeremiah Walker, Willis O'Neil, Harry Lester, John Ausmus and Robert H. Curry. The county-seat is Mount Sterling, a town of no little attractiveness. Other prosperous villages are Mound Station and Ripley. The chief occupation of the people is farming, although there is some manufacturing of lumber and a few potteries along the Illinois River. Pop. (1900), 11,557; (1910), 10,397.

BROWNE, Francis Fisher, editor and author, was born in South Halifax, Vt., Dec. 1, 1843, the son of William Goldsmith Browne, who was a teacher, editor and author of the song "A Hun- dred Years to Come." In childhood he was brought by his parents to Western Massachusetts, where he attended the public schools and learned the printing trade in his father's newspaper office at Chicopee, Mass. Leaving school in 1862, he enlisted in the Forty-sixth Regiment Massa- chusetts Volunteers, in which he served one year, chiefly in North Carolina and in the Army of the Potomac. On the discharge of his regi- ment he engaged in the study of law at Roches- ter, N. Y., entering the law department of the University of Michigan in 1866, but abandoning his intenton of entering the legal profession, removed to Chicago in 1867, where he engaged in journalistic and literary pursuits. Between 1869 and '74 he was editor of "The Lakeside Monthly," when he became literary editor of "The Alliance," but, in 1880, he established and assumed the editorship of "The Dial," a purely literary pub- lication which has gained a high reputation, and of which he has remained in control continuously ever since, meanwhile serving as the literary adviser, for many years, of the well-known pub- lishing house of McClurg & Co. Besides his journalistic work, Mr. Browne has contributed to the magazines and literary anthologies a num- ber of short lyrics, and is the author of "The Everyday Life of Abraham Lincoln" (1886), and a volume of poems entitled, "Volunteer Grain" (1893). He also compiled and edited "Golden Poems by British and American Authors" (1881); "The Golden Treasury. of Poetry and Prose" (1886), and the "Laurel Crowned"series of stand- ard poetry (1891-92). Mr. Browne was Chairman of the Committee of the Congress of Authors in

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

the World's Congress Auxiliary held in con- nection with The Columbian Exposition in 1893.

BROWNE, Thomas C., early jurist, was born in Kentucky, studied law there and, coming to Shawneetown in 1812, served in the lower branch of the Second Territorial Legislature (1814-16) and in the Council (1816-18), being the first law- yer to enter that body. In 1815 he was appointed Prosecuting Attorney and, on the admission of Illinois as a State, was promoted to the Supreme bench, being re-elected by joint ballot of the Legislature in 1825, and serving continuously until the reorganization of the Supreme Court under the Constitution of 1848, a period of over thirty years. Judge Browne's judicial character and abilities have been differently estimated. Though lacking in industry as a student, he is represented by the late Judge John D. Caton, who knew him personally, as a close thinker and a good judge of men. While seldom, if ever, accustomed to argue questions in the conference room or write out his opinions, he had a capacity for expressing himself in short, pungent sen- tences, which indicated that he was a man of con- siderable ability and had clear and distinct views of his own. An attempt was made to impeach him before the Legislature of 1843 "for want of capacity to discharge the duties of his office," but it failed by an almost unanimous vote. He was a Whig in politics, but had some strong sup- porters among Democrats. In 1822 Judge Browne was one of the four candidates for Governor-in the final returns standing third on the list and, by dividing the vote of the advocates of a pro-slavery clause in the State Constitution, contributing to the election of Governor Coles and the defeat of the pro-slavery party. (See Coles, Edward, and Slavery and Slave Laws.) In the latter part of his official term Judge Browne resided at Ga- lena, but, in 1853, removed with his son-in-law, ex-Congressman Joseph P. Hoge, to San Fran- cisco, Cal., where he died a few years later- probably about 1856 or 1858.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois and history of Winnebago County, Volume I, Part 12

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Church, Charles A., 1857- Publication date: 1916 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 724

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Church, Charles A., 1857-
Publication date: 1916
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 724