Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 118

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1388

USA > Illinois > Knox County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 118
USA > Illinois > Lake County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 118
USA > Illinois > Mercer County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 118
USA > Illinois > Kane County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 118
USA > Illinois > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 118
USA > Illinois > Coles County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 118
USA > Illinois > Clark County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 118
USA > Illinois > McDonough County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 118
USA > Illinois > Schuyler County > Historical encyclopedia of Illinois > Part 118

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

WIDEN, Raphael, pioneer and early legislator, was a native of Sweden, who, having been taken to France at eight years of age, was educated for a Catholic priest. Coming to the United States in 1815, he was at Cahokia. III., in 1818, where, during the same year, he married into a French family of that place. He served in the House of Representatives from Randolph County, in the Second and Third General Assemblies (1820-24), and as Senator in the Fourth and Fifth (1824-28). During his last term in the House, he was one of those who voted against the pro-slavery Con- vention resolution. He died of cholera, at Kas- kaskia, in 1833.

WIKE, Scott, lawyer and ex-Congressman. was born at Meadville, Pa., April 6. 1834; at 4 years of age removed with his parents to Quincy, Ill.,

588

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

and, in 1844, to Pike County. Having graduated from Lombard University, Galesburg, in 1857, he began reading law with Judge O. C. Skinner of Quincy. He was admitted to the bar in 1858, but, before commencing practice, spent a year at Harvard Law School, graduating there in 1859. Immediately thereafter he opened an office at Pittsfield, Ill., and has resided there ever since. In politics he has always been a strong Democrat. He served two terms in the Legislature (1863-67) and, in 1874, was chosen Representative from his District in Congress, being re-elected in 1888 and, again, in 1890. In 1893 he was appointed by President Cleveland Third Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, which position he continued to fill until March, 1897, when he resumed the practice of his profession at Pittsfield.

WILEY, (Col.) Benjamin Ladd, soldier, was born in Smithfield, Jefferson County, Ohio, March 25, 1821, came to Illinois in 1845 and began life at Vienna, Johnson County, as a teacher. In 1846 he enlisted for the Mexican War, as a member of the Fifth (Colonel Newby's) Regiment Illinois Volunteers, serving chiefly in New Mexico until mustered out in 1848. A year later he removed to Jonesboro, where he spent some time at the carpenter's trade, after which he became clerk in a store, meanwhile assisting to edit "The Joneshoro Gazette" until 1853; then became traveling salesman for a St. Louis firm, but later engaged in the hardware trade at Jonesboro, in which he continued for several years. In 1856 he was the Republican candidate for Congress for the Ninth District, receiving 4,000 votes, while Fremont, the Republican can- didate for President, received only 825 in the same district. In 1857 he opened a real estate office in Jonesboro in conjunction with David L. Phillips and Col. J. W. Ashley, with which he was connected until 1860, when he removed to Makanda, Jackson County. In September, 1861, he was mustered in as Lieutenant-Colonel of the Fifth Illinois Cavalry, later serving in Missouri and Arkansas under Generals Steele and Curtiss, being, a part of the time, in command of the First Brigade of Cavalry, and, in the advance on Vicks- burg, having command of the right wing of General Grant's cavalry. Being disabled by rheumatism at the end of the siege, he tendered his resignation, and was immediately appointed Enrolling Officer at Cairo, serving in this capac- ity until May, 1865, when he was mustered out. In 1969 he was appointed by Governor Palmer one of the Commissioners to locate the Southern Illinois Hospital for the Insane, and served as

Secretary of the Board until the institution was opened at Anna, in May, 1871. In 1869 he was defeated as a candidate for County Judge of Jackson County, and, in 1872, for the State Sen- ate, by a small majority in a strongly Democratic District; in 1876 was the Republican candidate for Congress, in the Eighteenth District, against William Hartzell, but was defeated by only twenty votes, while carrying six out of the ten counties comprising the District. In the latter years of his life, Colonel Wiley was engaged quite extensively in fruit-growing at Makanda, Jack- son County, where he died, March 22, 1890.

WILKIE, Franc Bangs, journalist, was born in Saratoga County, N. Y., July 2, 1830; took a partial course at Union College, after which he edited papers at Schenectady, N. Y., Elgin, Ill., and Davenport and Dubuque, Iowa; also serving, during a part of the Civil War, as the western war correspondent of "The New York Times." In 1863 he became an editorial writer on "The Chicago Times," remaining with that paper, . with the exception of a brief interval, until 1888 -a part of the time as its European correspond- ent. He was the author of a series of sketches over the nom de plume of "Poliuto," and of a volume of reminiscences under the title, "Thirty-five Years of Journalism," published shortly before his death, which took place, April 12, 1892.

WILKIN, Jacob W., Justice of the Supreme Court, was born in Licking County, Ohio, June 7, 1837; removed with his parents to Illinois, at 12 years of age, and was educated at Mckendree College; served three years in the War for the Union; studied law with Judge Scholfield and was admitted to the bar in 1866. In 1872, he was chosen Presidential Elector on the Republican ticket, and, in 1879, elected Judge of the Circuit Court and re-elected in 1885-the latter year being assigned to the Appellate bench for the Fourth District, where he remained until his election to the Supreme bench in 1888, being re-elected to the latter office in 1897. His home is at Danville.

WILKINSON, Ira 0., lawyer and Judge,. was born in Virginia in 1822, and accompanied his father to Jacksonville (1835), where he was edu- cated. During a short service as Deputy Clerk of Morgan County, he conceived a fondness for the profession of the law, and, after a course of study under Judge William Thomas, was admitted to practice in 1847. Richard Yates (afterwards Gov- ernor and Senator) was his first partner. In 1845 he removed to Rock Island, and, six years later,

589

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

was elected a Circuit Judge, being again closen to the same position in 1861. At the expiration of his second term he removed to Chicago. Died, at Jacksonville, August 24, 1894.

WILKINSON, John P., early merchant, was horn, Dec. 14, 1790, in New Kent County, Va., emigrated first to Kentucky, and, in 1828, settled in Jacksonville, Ill., where he engaged in mer- cantile business. Mr. Wilkinson was a liberal friend of Illinois College and Jacksonville Female Academy, of each of which he was a Trustee from their origin until his death, which occurred, during a business visit to St. Louis, in December, 1841.

WILL, Conrad, pioneer physician and early legislator, was born in Philadelphia, June 4, 1778; about 1804 removed to Somerset County Pa., and, in 1813, to Kaskaskia, Ill. He was a physician by profession, but having leased the saline lands on the Big Muddy, in the vicinity of what after- wards became the town of Brownsville, he engaged in the manufacture of salt, removing thither in 1815, and becoming one of the founders of Brownsville, afterwards the first county-seat of Jackson County. On the organization of Jackson County, in 1816, he became a member of the first Board of County Commissioners, and, in 1818, served as Delegate from that county in the Convention which framed the first State Consti- tution. Thereafter he served continuously as a member of the Legislature from 1818 to '34-first as Senator in the First General Assembly, then as Representative in the Second, Third, Fourth and Fifth, and again as Senator in the Sixth, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth-his career being conspicuous for long service. He died in office, June 11, 1834. Dr. Will was short of stature, fleshy, of jovial disposition and fond of playing practical jokes upon his associates, but very popular, as shown by his successive elections to the Legislature. He has been called "The Father of Jackson County." Will County, organized by act of the Legislature two years after his death, was named in his honor.

WILL COUNTY, a northeastern county, em- bracing 850 square miles, named in honor of Dr. Conrad Will, an early politician and legislator. Early explorations of the territory were made in 1829, when white settlers were few. The bluff west of Joliet is said to have been first occupied by David and Benjamin Maggard. Joseph Smith, the Mormon "apostle," expounded his peculiar doctrines at "the Point" in 1831. Sev- eral of the early settlers fled from the country during (or after) a raid by the Sac Indians.

There is a legend, seemingly well supported, to the effect that the first lumber, sawed to build the first frame house in Chicago (that of P. F. W. Peck), was sawed at Plainfield. Will County, originally a part of Cook, was separately erected in 1836, Joliet being made the county-seat. Agriculture, quarrying and manufacturing are the chief industries. Joliet, Lockport and Wil- mington are the principal towns. Population (1880). 53.422; (1890), 62,007. (See Joliet.)

WILLARD, Frances Elizabeth, teacher and reformer, was born at Churchville, N. Y., Sept. 28, 1839, graduated from the Northwestern Female College at Evanston, Ill., in 1859, and, in 1862, accepted the Professorship of Natural Sciences in that institution. During 1866-67 she was the Principal of the Genessee Wesleyan Seminary. The next two years she devoted to travel and study abroad, meanwhile contribut- ing to various periodicals. From 1871 to 1874 she was Professor of Æsthetics in the Northwestern University and dean of the Woman's College. She was always an enthusiastic champion of temperance, and, in 1874, abandoned her profes- sion to identify herself with the Woman's Chris- tian Temperance Union. For five years she was Corresponding Secretary of the national body, and, from 1879, its President. While Secretary she organized the Home Protective Association, and prepared a petition to the Illinois Legislature, to which nearly 200,000 names were attached, asking for the granting to women of the right to vote on the license question. In 1878 she suc- ceeded her brother, Oliver A. Willard (who had died), as editor of "The Chicago Evening Post," but, a few months later, withdrew, and, in 1882, was elected as a member of the executive com- mittee of the National Prohibition party. In 1886 she became leader of the White Cross Move- ment for the protection of women, and succeeded in securing favorable legislation, in this direc- tion, in twelve States. In 1883 she founded the World's Christian Temperance Union, and, in 1888, was chosen its President, as also President of the International Council of Women. The latter years of her life were spent chiefly abroad, much of the time as the guest and co-worker of Lady Henry Somerset, of England, during which she devoted much attention to investigating the condition of women in the Orient. Miss Willard was a prolific and highly valued contributor to the magazines, and (besides numerous pamphlets) published several volumes, including "Nineteen Beautiful Years" (a tribute to her sister): "Woman in Temperance"; "How to Win," and

590

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

"Woman in the Pulpit." Died, in New York, Feb. 18, 1898.

WILLARD, Samuel, A.M., M.D., LL.D., phy- sician and educator, was born in Lunenberg, Vt., Dec. 30, 1821-the lineal descendant of Maj. Simon Willard, one of the founders of Concord, Mass., and prominent in "King Philip's War," and of his son, Rev. Dr. Samuel Willard, of the Old South Church, Boston, and seventh President of Harvard College. The subject of this sketch was taken in his infancy to Boston, and, in 1831, to Carrollton, Ill., where his father pursued the avocation of a druggist. After a preparatory course at Shurtleff College, Upper Alton, in 1836 he entered the freshman class in Illinois College at Jacksonville, but withdrew the following year, re-entering college in 1840 and graduating in the class of 1843, as a classmate of Dr. Newton Bate- man, afterwards State Superintendent of Public Instruction and President of Knox College, and Rev. Thomas K. Beecher, now of Elmira, N. Y. The next year he spent as Tutor in Illinois Col- lege, when he began the study of medicine at Quincy, graduating from the Medical Department of Illinois College in 1848. During a part of the latter year he edited a Free-Soil campaign paper ("The Tribune") at Quincy, and, later, "The Western Temperance Magazine" at the same place. In 1849 he began the practice of his pro- fession at St. Louis, but the next year removed to Collinsville, Ill., remaining until 1857, when he took charge of the Department of Languages in the newly organized State Normal University at Normal. The second year of the Civil War (1862) he enlisted as a private in the Ninety-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, but was soon after commissioned as Surgeon with the rank of Major, participating in the campaigns in Tennessee and in the first attack upon Vicksburg. Being dis- abled by an attack of paralysis, in February, 1863, he was compelled to resign, when he liad suffici- ently recovered accepting a position in the office of Provost Marshal General Oakes, at Spring- field, where he remained until the close of the war. He then became Grand Secretary of the Independent Order of Odd-Fellows for the State of Illinois-a position which he had held from 1856 to 1862 -remaining under his second appoint- ment from 1865 to '69. The next year he served as Superintendent of Schools at Springfield, meanwhile assisting in founding the Springfield public library, and serving as its first librarian. In 1870 he accepted the professorship of History in the West Side High School of Chicago, which, with the exception of two years (1884-86),

he continued to occupy for more than twenty- five years, retiring in 1898. In the meantime, Dr. Willard has been a laborious literary worker, having been, for a considerable period, editor, or assistant-editor, of "The Illinois Teacher," a con- tributor to "The Century Magazine" and "The Dial" of Chicago, besides having published a "Digest of the Laws of Odd Fellowship" in six- teen volumes, begun while he was Grand Secre- tary of the Order in 1864, and continued in 1872 and '82; a "Synopsis of History and Historical Chart," covering the period from B. C. 800 to A. D. 1876-of which he has had a second edition in course of preparation. Of late years he has been engaged upon a "Historical Diction- ary of Names and Places," which will include some 12,000 topics, and which promises to be the most important work of his life. Previous to the war he was an avowed Abolitionist and operator on the "Underground Railroad," who made no concealment of his opinions, and, on one or two occasions, was called to answer for them in prosecutions under the "Fugitive Slave Act." (See "Underground Railroad.") His friend and classmate, the late Dr. Bateman, says of him: "Dr. Willard is a sound thinker; a clear and forcible writer; of broad and accurate scholarship; conscientious, genial and kindly, and a most estimable gentleman."

WILLIAMS, Archibald, lawyer and jurist, was born in Montgomery County, Ky., June 10, 1801; with moderate advantages but natural fondness for study, he chose the profession of law, and was admitted to the bar in Tennessee in 1828, coming to Quincy, Ill., the following year. He was elected to the General Assembly three times-serving in the Senate in 1832-36, and in the House, 1836-40; was United States District Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, by appointment of President Taylor, 1849-53; was twice the candidate of his party (the Whig) for United States Senator, and appointed by Presi- dent Lincoln, in 1861, United States District Judge for the State of Kansas. His abilities and high character were widely recognized. Died, in Quincy, Sept. 21, 1863-His son, John H., an attorney at Quincy, served as Judge of the Cir- cuit Court 1879-85 .- Another son, Abraham Lin- coln, was twice elected Attorney-General of Kansas.

WILLIAMS, Erastus Smith, lawyer and ju- rist, was born at Salem, N. Y., May 22, 1821. In 1842 he removed to Chicago, where, after reading law, he was admitted to the bar in 1844. In 1854 he was appointed Master in Chancery, which

591

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

office he filled until 1863, when he was elected a Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County. After re-election in 1870 he became Chief Justice, and, at the same time, heard most of the cases on the equity side of the court. In 1879 he was a candidate for re-election as a Republican, but was defeated with the party ticket. After his retirement from the bench he resumed private practice. Died, Feb. 24, 1884.

WILLIAMS, James R., Congressman, was born in White County, Ill., Dec. 27, 1850, at the age of 25 graduated from the Indiana State Uni- versity, at Bloomington, and, in 1876, from the Union College of Law, Chicago, since then being an active and successful practitioner at Carmi. In 1880 he was appointed Master in Chancery and served two years. From 1882 to 1886 he was County Judge. In 1892 he was a nominee on the Democratic ticket for Presidential Elector. He was elected to represent the Nineteenth Illi- nois District in the Fifty-first Congress at a special election held to fill the vacancy occasioned by the death of R. W. Townshend, was re-elected in 1890 and 1892, but defeated by Orlando Burrell (Republican) for re-election in the newly organ- ized Twentieth District in 1894. In 1898 he was again a candidate and elected to the Fifty-sixtlı Congress.

WILLIAMS, John, pioneer merchant, was born in Bath County, Ky., Sept. 11, 1808; be- tween 14 and 16 years of age was clerk in a store in his native State; then, joining his parents, who had settled on a tract of land in a.part of Sangamon (now Menard) County, Ill., he found employment as clerk in the store of Major Elijah Iles, at Springfield, whom he succeeded in busi- ness at the age of 22, continuing it without inter- ruption until 1880. In 1856 Mr. Williams was the Republican candidate for Congress in the Springfield District, and, in 1861, was appointed Commissary-General for the State, rendering valuable service in furnishing supplies for State troops, in camps of instruction and while proceed- ing to the field, in the first years of the war; was also chief officer of the Illinois Sanitary Commis- sion for two years, and, as one of the intimate personal friends of Mr. Lincoln, was chosen to accompany the remains of the martyred President, from Washington to Springfield, for burial. Liberal, enterprising and public-spirited, his name was associated with nearly every public enter- prise of importance in Springfield during his business career-being one of the founders, and, for eleven years President, of the First National Bank; a chief promoter in the construction of

what is now the Springfield Division of the Illi- nois Central Railroad, and the Springfield and Peoria line; a Director of the Springfield Iron Company ; one of the Commissioners who con- structed the Springfield water-works, and an officer of the Lincoln Monument Association, from 1865 to his death, May 29, 1890.

WILLIAMS, Norman, lawyer, was born at Woodstock, Vt., Feb. 1, 1833, being related, on both the paternal and maternal sides, to some of the most prominent families of New England. He fitted for college at Union Academy, Meriden, and graduated from the University of Vermont in the class of 1855. After taking a course in the Albany Law School and with a law firm in his native town, he was admitted to practice in both New York and Vermont, removed to Chi- cago in 1858, and, in 1860, became a member of the firm of King, Kales & Williams, still later forming a partnership with Gen. John L. Thomp- son, which ended with the death of the latter in 1888. In a professional capacity he assisted in the organization of the Pullman Palace Car Com- pany, and was a member of its Board of Directors; also assisted in organizing the Western Electric Company, and was prominently identified with the Chicago Telephone Company and the Western Union Telegraph Company. In 1881 he served as the United States Commissioner to the Electrical Exposition at Paris. In conjunction with his brother (Edward H. Williams) he assisted in founding the public library at Woodstock, Vt., which, in honor of his father, received the name of "The Norman Williams Public Library." With Col. Huntington W. Jackson and J. Mc- Gregor Adams, Mr. Williams was named, in the will of the late John Crerar, as an executor of the Crerar estate and one of the Trustees of the Crerar Public Library, and became its first Presi- dent; was also a Director of the Chicago Pub- lic Library, and trustee of a number of large estates. Mr. Williams was a son-in-law of the late Judge John D. Caton, and his oldest daughter became the wife of Major-General Wesley Mer- ritt, a few months before his death, which oc- curred at Hampton Beach, N. H., June 19, 1899 -his remains being interred in his native town of Woodstock, Vt.

WILLIAMS, Robert Ebenezer, lawyer, born Dec. 3, 1825, at Clarksville, Pa., his grandfathers on both sides being soldiers of the Revolutionary War. In 1830 his parents removed to Washing- ton in the same State, where in boyhood he worked as a mechanic in his father's shop, attending a common school in the winter until

592

HISTORICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ILLINOIS.

he reached the age of 17 years, when he entered Washington College, remaining for more than a year. He then began teaching, and, in 1845 went to Kentucky, where he pursued the business of a teacher for four years. Then he entered Bethany College in West Virginia, at the same time prosecuting his law studies, but left at the close of his junior year, when, having been licensed to practice, he removed to Clinton, Texas. Here he accepted, from a retired lawyer, the loan of a law library, which he afterwards purchased; served for two years as State's Attor- ney, and, in 1856, came to Bloomington, Ill., where he spent the remainder of his life in the practice of his profession. Much of his time was devoted to practice as a railroad attorney, espe- cially in connection with the Chicago & Alton and the Illinois Central Railroads, in which he acquired prominence and wealth. He was a life- long Democrat and, in 1868, was the unsuccessful candidate of his party for Attorney-General of the State. The last three years of his life he had been in bad health, dying at Bloomington, Feb. 15, 1899.

WILLIAMS, Samuel, Bank President, was born in Adams County, Ohio, July 11, 1820; came to Winnebago County, Ill., in 1835, and, in 1842, removed to Iroquois County, where he held vari- ous local offices, including that of County Judge, to which he was elected in 1861. During his later years he had been President of the Watseka Citizens' Bank. Died, June 16, 1896.

WILLIAMSON, Rollin Samuel, legislator and jurist, was born at Cornwall, Vt., May 23, 1839. At the age of 14 he went to Boston, where he began life as a telegraph messenger boy. In two years he had become a skillful operator, and, as such, was employed in various offices in New England and New York. In 1857 he came to Chicago seeking employment and, through the fortunate correction of an error on the part of the receiver of a message, secured the position of operator and station agent at Palatine, Cook County. Here he read law during his leisure time without a preceptor, and, in 1870, was admitted to the bar. The same year he was elected to the lower House of the General Assembly and, in 1872, to the Senate. In 1880 he was elected to the bench of the Superior Court of Cook County, and, in 1887, was chosen a Judge of the Cook County Circuit Court. Died, Au- gust 10, 1889.

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, in the southern part of the State, originally set off from Franklin and organized in 1839. The county is well watered,

the principal streams being the Big Muddy and the South Fork of the Saline. The surface is undulating and the soil fertile. The region was originally well covered with forests. All the cereals (as well as potatoes) are cultivated, and rich meadows encourage stock-raising. Coal and sandstone underlie the entire county. Area, 440 square miles; population (1880), 19,324: (1890) 23,226.

WILLIAMSVILLE, a village of Sangamon County, on the Chicago & Alton Railroad, 12 miles north of Springfield; has a bank, a news- paper and coal-mines. Population (1890), 444.

WILLIS, Jonathan Clay, soldier and former Railroad and Warehouse Commissioner, was born in Sumner County, Tenn., June 27, 1826; brought to Gallatin County, Ill., in 1834, and settled at Golconda in 1843; was elected Sheriff of Pope County in 1856, removed to Metropolis in 1859, and engaged in the wharf-boat and commission business. He entered the service as Quarter- master of the Forty-eighth Illinois Volunteers in 1861, but was compelled to resign on account of injuries, in 1863; was elected Representative ir the Twenty-sixth General Assembly (1868), appointed Collector of Internal Revenue in 1869, and Railway and Warehouse Commissioner in 1892, as the successor of John R. Tanner, serving until 1893.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 118

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden Publication date: 1899 Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1388

Author: Bateman, Newton, 1822-1897. cn; Selby, Paul, 1825-1913; Gale, W. Shelden
Publication date: 1899
Publisher: Chicago : Munsell Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1388