Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 144

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

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JOHN HUSTON FINLEY.

John Huston Finley was born at Grand Ridge, LaSalle County, Illinois, October 19, 1863. He is the son of James Gibson and Lydia Maynard (McCombs) Finley, both of whom were natives of Pennsylvania. His father, when a young man, came West and purchased a tract of land, then an unbroken prairie, for a farm. He then returned to Pennsylvania and brought his family to his new home in LaSalle County. He was a man of intelligence and influence and was prominent in the community in which he lived. In church affairs, he took a great in- terest, and for the common weal, he labored faithfully. The mother of John H. was a remarkable woman. In her domestic relations and in her social functions, she never failed to do her duty.

The history of the ancestry of the Finley family is brief. They are of Scotch-Irish descent. By persecutions, they were driven out of Scotland at an early day and settled in Ire- land. They emigrated to this country ahont the year 1750. A member of one of the branches of the family became President of Princeton College. Another was the first minister to cross the Allegheny Mountains, settling in Western Pennsylvania. From this Jatter branch descended Dr. John H. Finley.

Dr. Finley acquired the rudiments of his edu- cation in the district school of his native town. He received also private instruction from the teacher and from the village minister. He at- tended the High School at Ottawa for fourteen months and graduated in 1881. He then en- gaged in teaching for the Winter of 1881-2, and worked on the farm the following Summer.

In the Fall of 1882, he matriculated In Knox College, remaining there six months. He then worked on the farm and taught school for the following Winter. In the Spring of 1884, he re- turned to Knox College and graduated with high honors in 1887. In the Autumn of this year, he entered Johns Hopkins University and took a post-graduate course, remaining until February, 1889.

Since leaving college, Dr. Finley has had a most remarkable career. Placea of honor and preferment have been open to him without his seeking. After leaving college, he was a con- positor, for a short time, in the printing office of Colville Brothers, Galesburg, Illinois. In 1892, he was unanimously elected President of Knox College, hla Alma Mater, and her In- creased patronage under his administration is a reliable witness of his success. In a large measure he was the life and spirit of the col- lege during his Presidency. His work was not in the class-room, but in the field, lecturing, raising money, and securing students. He had the confidence of all, and whatever the under- taking, his hands were upheld by pupil, teaen- er, and the general public. Knox College owes him a debt of gratitude for enlarging her reputation among sister colleges. His own reputation spread likewise, and during his term of service here, he was offered several impor- tant positions in other colleges. He resigned the presidency of the college in 1899, and is now engaged in editorial work with McClure and the Harpers, New York City.

As a scholar, Dr. Finley stands in the front rank. He has heen a thorough student of the best masters in literature, and is well versed in the writings of to-day. As a man, he ia kind, gentle, and affable, and exhibits marka of sin- cerity in every word and act. He is a stranger to the finical graces of the schools, the studied ornament of speech, and the hollow verbiage of the charlatan. His marked char- acteristics are force and decision of character, accompanied with prudence and discretion. His manner is commanding. yet urbane; his actions are politic, yet frank; and his opinions are re- served, yet free. He ia a warm supporter of education, religion, and good morals. His sym- pathles are inspiring; his charities, free from ostentation; and his friendship lasting. His social qualities, honest heart, and benevolent disposition give him a power that few men of his age possess. His life has been upright: his dealings just; and he has ever been regarded as a most worthy citizen.

In his religious connection Dr. Finley ia a Presbyterian. In political faith, he ia a re- publican. He was married June 23, 1892, to Martha Fow Boyden, daughter of Hon. A. W. Boyden, a banker at Sheffield, Illinois. Mr. Boyden has been a member of the Legislature, and was one of the one hundred and three that elected John A. Logan to the United States Senate.

Dr. and Mrs. Finley are the parents of two children: Ellen Boyden, born March 10, 1894; and Margaret Boyden, born April, 1897.

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FRANCIS A. FREER, A. M.

Francis A. Freer, A. M., son of Abram and Mary (McKimens) Freer, was born in Butler, Pennsylvania, April 6, 1843.

His parents moved to Pittsburg in 1849, and thence to Ellisville, Illinois, in 1857, where they lived until their decease. Their school advan- tages were very limited, but they made good use of the opportunities given. The father pos- sessed an iron will and was not easily turned aside. In many of the common branches, he became a good scholar, especially in history and mathematics. Both were devout Christ- ians.

His paternal ancestors were "French Hugue- nots;" his maternal, "Scotch-Irish Covenant- ers." Both came to this country before the Revolution. What part they took in that great struggle for human freedom is not known.

Mr. Freer's efforts to obtain an education were similar to the efforts of many others. In winter, he attended the public schools, while in sum- mer, he devoted his time to learning the car- penter's trade. This was his life until he was eighteen years old. In the Spring of 1867, he entered Hedding College at Abingdon, Illinois, and graduated in 1871 with the honor of vale- dictorian of his class. A large portion of his school expenses was defrayed hy himself. The ripening harvest and the timbered forests of- fered plenty of work for his hands. The crad- ling of grain or the hewing of timber was a work with which he was familiar.

Mr. Freer is fond of natural scenery. His childhood was spent in school, and when school duties were over, in searching the fields and woods for flowers. No precipice was too high or dangerous to prevent his scaling it for a rare specimen He was fond of all kinds of sports. He says of himself that his "tastes were always expensive; means always limited."

After leaving college, he was principal of the Wataga schools for a time, and then for three years taught in the Henderson schools. Dur- ing that time he read law with Hon. C. H. Nel- son, hut was never admitted to the Bar. One of the most important changes of his life was the giving up of the profession of teaching, which had been successfully followed until 1879. The confinement of the school-room was under- mining his health. He then engaged for a time in the agricultural implement business, and later in the school book business, as the gen- eral agent of Sheldon and Company for the State of Illinois.

In 1875, he moved from Wataga to Henderson, and in 1879, to Galesburg, where has been his home ever since.

In 1861, he went to Peoria to enlist in the Forty-seventh Illinois Infantry, but failed to pass on account of his health. In 1862, he en- listed in the Seventieth Illinois Infantry, three months troops, serving about five months on guard duty. Again on account of his health, he was rejected from the three years service, but in the Spring of 1864, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Thirty-seventh Illinois In- fantry, and was in a hard fight with Forest near

Memphis, August 22, 1864. His regiment lost in killed and wounded 170 men.

The offices that Mr. Freer has held are not numerous, but worthy of mention. Both at Wataga and Henderson, he was elected Village Trustee on the temperance ticket, the issue be- ing license or no license-elected Justice of the Peace in Henderson Township on the republican ticket in 1877, resigning the office in 1879-is a member of the James T. Shields Post, No. 45, Department of Illinois, G. A. R .- was elected commander of the same in 1890-was appointed Postmaster of Galesburg hy President Harri- son; again appointed by President Mckinley, which office he now holds. He was elected Ser- geant at Arms of the 34th General Assembly of Illinois in 1885. He is also a member of the Council of Administration, Department of Illi- nois G. A. R., having been elected in May, 1899.

Mr. Freer has taken an active part in every public enterprise for the upbuilding of Gales- burg during the past twenty years.

He has been connected with the following Societies: The Good Templars, Sons of Tem- perance, Temple of Honor, A. O. U. W., Masons and Odd Fellows, and the G. A. R. and U. V. U.

In religious faith, Mr. Freer affiliates with the Presbyterians, although he is not a member of any church.

In political faith, he is an uncompromising re- publican. In every campaign, by his eloquent speech, hard work and contributions, he has done much for the success of republican princi- ples.

He was united in marriage December, 1871, to Jennie E. Christy, who was educated at Hed- ding College. To them were born five children, Elizabeth Irene, Howard Abram, Charles Fran- cis, Mary Alda, and Morton Christy. Elizabeth is a graduate of Knox College, Alda is a student in Knox Conservatory of Music. Morton is a stu- dent at Lombard University, and Howard and Charles are engaged in business. Morton served in Company C, Sixth Illinois Volunteer Infan- try during the Spanish American War, receiving special mention in his honorable discharge.

THOMAS GOLD FROST.

Thomas Gold Frost was an exceptional man. Possessed of strong native powers and imbued with a high moral purpose and a sense of duty and right, he wrote his name high on the roll of fame among the great and good of earth. He was born in Whitesboro, Oneida County, New York, May 4, 1821.

John Frost, the father of Thomas G., was a prominent Presbyterian clergyman. He was a superior scholar and a graduate of Middlebury College, Vermont. It is said that at his examin- ation, he recited the Latin grammar entire. He was pastor of a church in Whitesboro for nearly twenty years, and was "an earnest advo- cate of temperance reform and a wise and pri- dent actor in the anti-slavery agitation of his day." He was afterwards called to take charge of a Presbyterian church in Elmira, New York, and it was at an abolitionist meeting here, that a mob gathered and hurled missiles of various

Timatty Mashier

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KNOX COUNTY.

kinds at the speakers and others. Mr. Frost, with his friends, escaped unharmed. He was a particular friend of the Rev. George W. Gale, for whom Galesburg was named, and had many interviews with him in relation to Knox College and the colony enterprise. He furthered the project in every way possible, and even pur- chased land in Galesburg as an aid in carrying out the plan.

Thomas G. Frost's mother was Harriet La- vinia Gold, daughter of Hon. Thomas Ruggies Gold, a native of Connecticut and a brilliant lawyer. At an early day he removed to Whites- boro. He was chosen State Senator for two terms, and for two terms represented his dis- trict in Congress. The daughter partook of the brilliancy of intellect and keenness of wit of her father, and by her dignity of carriage, pleas- ing manners, and beauty of person, she became a reigning belle in Washington during her father's temporary residence there.

Such was the parentage of Thomas G. Frost, and such were the sterling qualities that flowed down the stream of descent to the son. The spirit of the boy did not suffer these qualities to lie dormant. They were burnished and brightened by the instruction at the paternal fireside, by the lessons learned in the common schools, and by the lectures in college. It was in the public schools of his native town and in Elmira, New York, that he received his elemen- tary education. Not satisfied with a little learn- ing, and being thoroughly prepared, he matricu- Jated in Hamilton College, Clinton, New York, and graduated in 1843, with the highest honors. One of his professors said of him, that he, "has the finest legal mind I have met with in my years of instruction of young men."

Soon after graduation, he read law in the office of Stryker and Comstock, at Rome, New York, and was admitted to the Bar in 1846. Im- mediately, he began to practice there, con- · tinuing for twelve years. He then removed to Galesburg, Illinois, where he practiced fifteen years. His next move was to Chicago, where he practiced ten years. In every place where he practiced, whether at Rome, Galesburg, or Chi- cago, he won distinction and fame.

As a lawyer, he was a model. No one ever dared to criticise his methods or his speech. For assiduity and untiring energy in his labors, he had no superior. He had quick perceptions, a sound judgment, and a useful fund of intelli- gence, which enabled him to see readily the scope and bearings of every case. Business of great importance was intrusted to him on account of his reliability and faithfulness. His briefs were without flaws, and in conciseness, were models. His speeches at court were never harangues, but they were full of candor and facts. His oratory was the eloquence of truth, justice, and right. A judge once said of him: "No man was better able to instruct the Court at this Bar than he."

As a man and citizen. he stood before the world unsullied. His private character was as pure as his public career. He was kind in spirit, loving in his family relations, and sympathetic

towards all. Malice was a stranger to his heart, envy was not cherished, and his broad catholic feelings threw a mantle of charity over the foibles and short-comings of his fellow beings. His soul-cheering words dispelled the dark clouds of despair and his enlivening spirit was a sunray of hope. He was a man of sterling qualities, of lofty aims, a devout Christian, and walked and lived on a high plane of moral rectitude.

Mr. Frost was not an office seeker. At Presi- dent Grant's second nomination, he was chosen one of the Presidential electors. lle took an active part in the removal of the county seat from Knoxville to Galesburg. Early he was a champion in the temperance cause, and a mem- ber of temperance organizations in the East and West. For some time, he was President of the Knox County Bible Society. He was an elder in the Presbyterian Church at Galesburg for twelve years, and in Evanston eight years. While in Hamilton College, he was a member of the Alpha Delta Phi fraternity. He united with the Presbyterian Church when only eleven years of age.

October 7, 1858, the time of the famous "Lincoln and Douglas" debate at Galesburg, he made the address of welcome to Abraham Lincoln. He assisted Dr. Noyes, of Evanston, Illinois, in his conduct of the memorable case of the Chicago Presbytery vs. Professor David Swing, who was cleared of the charge of heresy.

Politically, he was an abolitionist, having esponsed the cause of the oppressed colored man in early life. He cast his first vote for the abol- ition ticket. He was delegate to the Free-Soil Convention at Buffalo, when that party was organized. Afterwards, he voted the republican ticket.

Mr. Frost was married November 18, 1847, at Rome, New York, to Elizabeth Anna Bancroft, daughter of Judge Edward Bancroft. of Martins- bury, New York, one of the first settlers of that section. He removed from Westfield, Massa- chusetts, early in the nineteenth century. Ile was a strong man intellectually, enterprising and of high moral worth.

Mr. and Mrs. Frost were the parents of five children: John Edward, who lives in Topeka. Kansas, and who, for many years, has been connected with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, as Land Commissioner; Louisa; Elizabeth Bancroft, living in Galesburg; Thomas Gold Frost, lawyer in New York; and a daughter dying in infancy.

Mr. Frost died near Springer, New Mexico, December 22, 1880, at the age of sixty-nine.

GEORGE W. GALE. D. D.

Rev. George Washington Gale, clergyman, educator and philanthropist, was born at Stan- ford, Dutchess County, New York, on December 3. 1789. His grandparents, Joseph and Rebecca (Closson ) Gale, were emigrants from Yorkshire, England, and settled at Stamford. Connecticut. They were the parents of six sons and one daughter. Of these, John, the eldest, married Sarah. a sister of General Waterbury, of Stam-

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KNOX COUNTY.

ford, Connecticut, and died at sea. His daugh- ter, Sarah, married Hezekiah Olmstead, and was the mother of Sally, the wife of Silvanus Ferris. Another son, Josiah, was the father of the eminent, founder of Galesburg. He was the husband of Rachel Mead, whose father, Tim- othy, moved from Connecticut to Dutchess County, New York, and from there to Mead's Mills, Vermont, where, with his brothers, he took up his residence before the Revolution. His wife was a cousin of Mary Mead, the mother of Silvanus Ferris. Josiah Gale was a man of muscular frame and remarkable strength, while his son, George W., was slightly built, although of graceful carriage and com- manding presence. He served during the French and Indian War in the army in north- ern New York, participating in the battles of Ticonderoga, Oswego and Fort Stanwix. In the Revolutionary struggle, he was with the militia at the battle of White Plains, but his principal service was as the head of a vigilance committee to look after the Tories, who, in that region, were numerous and troublesome. He was of a generous disposition, and became one of the Galesburg colonists, being elected a Jus- tice of the Peace in the new settlement.

George W. Gale was left an orphan when only eight years old, but was affectionately cared for by his sisters, of whom he had eight, married to substantial farmers in the neighborhood of their old home. As he grew older, however, he became conscious that the life of a farmer's boy would not satisfy his aspirations, and he determined to acquire a higher education. As soon as qualified, he alternated his attendance at school with the duties of the pedagogue, and by these means, with close application to study at home, he prepared himself for entering the Sophomore class at Union College. For a time, he had a tutor, John Frost, of Middlebury, Ver- mont, who afterwards became pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Whitesboro, New York, and was his counsellor and coadjutor in all his enterprises in after life.

After graduating from Union, Mr. Gale en- tered Princeton Theological Seminary, but so impaired his health by over-study that he was compelled to leave the institution 'before the completion of his course. He was, however, licensed to preach by the Hudson (New York) Presbytery, in 1816. For a few years he preached to small, newly formed congregations in Dutchess and Putnam counties, being also employed as a missionary among the new set- tlements in Jefferson and Oswego counties, and for a time supplying a pulpit in Green County. His health partially restored, he returned to Princeton and completed his course in 1819. From the many calls to a pastorate which he received, he accepted one from the church at Adams, Jefferson County, New York; and. rid- ing thither from Princeton on horseback, he entered upon a new field of duty. Within five years his health again failed him, and, resign- ing his charge, he went South, to seek the benefit to be obtained through a change of climate. A winter in Virginia proved so bene-

ficial that he returned North; yet did not dare to resume his ministerial duties. Accordingly he secured a residence, with a small farm at- tached, in the pretty village of Western, Oneida County, New York.

At that time an educated ministry seemed to be a vital need of the Presbyterian Church, a fact which few men within that communion felt more keenly than did Mr. Gale. To his trained and reflective mind, the problem pre- sented itself, how to enlist young men of piety and talent, and afford them proper training? His own experience had shown him students discouraged for want of means, abandoning their studies to earn money which was indis- pensable for their prosecution, and undermin- ing their health by an intense effort to make up the time thus lost. Most of them were ac- customed to the outdoor life of a farm, with physical exercise, and it occurred to him that if each student were given, each day, a suffi- cient amount of such work to relieve the mental strain inseparable from hard study, and at the same time to aid in defraying the expense nec- essary to his education, better results might be obtained. He tried an experiment. He took into his family a half dozen young men, to whom he furnished books and gave instruction in consideration of three hours' daily work upon his farm. Out of this project was de- veloped the Oneida Institute, at Whitesboro, New York, which was founded mainly through his efforts. He personally solicited the funds necessary for the purchase of a farm and the erection of buildings. Instructors of ability and repute were secured, dormitories and shops built, a college curriculum adopted, and the project fairly launched. Three hours' daily labor on the farm paid for room rent and board; work in the shops was paid what it might be worth. The Institute was soon filled with students, and the pervading atmosphere was intensely religious, while strong temper- ance and anti-slavery sentiments were de- veloped. From 1827 to 1834 Mr. Gale remained at its head, but in the latter year he retired from the management to enter upon the forma- tion of the Galesburg Colony and the founding of Knox College. For a detailed account of his efforts in this direction and the success with which they were crowned, the reader is referred to the articles entitled Galesburg and Knox College.

He first visited the site of the city named in his honor in 1836, when he devoted considerable time to looking into the affairs of the colony and making ready a home for his family, whom he brought out later, returning to Whitesboro to accompany them. Their journey to their new home occupied six weeks, and was accom- plished by canal to Buffalo, by lake to Detroit, and by wagon to the cabin in which they were to reside. Finding this filled with sufferers from an unfortunate canal boat expedition. (see "A Canal Boat Journey"), he found quarters for his wife and seven children in the already crowded cabins of helpful, sympathetic neigh- bors, and put up another cabin for the winter

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from green logs. In the spring he huilt another and better one at what is now the corner of Seminary and Grove streets, and four years later erected a house, yet standing, at the cor- ner of North and Cherry streets.

From its founding until his death, which oc- curred September 13, 1861, Mr. Gale was prom- inent in the management of Knox College, serving as trustee all the time, and as a Pro- fessor from 1841 until 1856. He was also active in the affairs of the church, and for several years filled the pulpit of the First Presbyterian, long the only church in Galesburg, besides de- voting much time to the establishment of other churches, in the surrounding country. In 1857, he was smitten with a paralytic stroke, but was gradually regaining his strength until, within six months before his death, he began to weaken. Gangrene finally set in, causing his death within a few days after its appearance.

The following tribute to his memory was paid by Rev. Dr. Boardman, of Philadelphia, an eminent Presbyterian divine, who knew him well: "His intellect was strong, clear, acute, penetrating, active, well furnished and well dis- ciplined. His judgment of men and things was sound, his hopefulness large, his faith confid- ing, his will resolute, his fortitude unshrinking, and his courage unfaltering. His piety was a governing principle, a part of his very being, and controlling his plans, his labors, his com- forts and his purse. His works praise him, and his memory will long be fresh and fragrant in the church."

Mr. Gale was three times married. His first wife was Harriet Selden, a daughter of Hon. Charles Selden and Abigail Jones, his wife, to whom he was united at Troy, New York, in 1820. She was delicately reared, and a young girl at the time of her marriage. The income from her small fortune enabled him to prosecute his plans for doing good, and she cheerfully fol- lowed his fortunes; if not with enthusiasm, at least without complaint. In 1841, a year after her death, he married Mrs. Esther Coon, a daughter of Daniel Williams, at Galesburg; and after her demise he was joined-in 1844-to Lucy Merriam, at New Haven, Connecticut. He was the father of seven sons and three daugh- ters: William Selden, born in 1822, and now living at Galesburg; Harriet Yonvet, born in 1823; George, born in 1826, and died in 1872; Josiah, born in 1827, and died in 1863; Mary Elizabeth born in 1829, and now the widow of Rev. Edwin L. Hurd, D. D .; Margaret, born in 1831, who became the wife of Professor Henry E. Hitchcock, of Knox College and the Ne- braska State University; Charles Selden, born in 1835 and died in 1836; Joseph Dudley, the first male white child born within the present limits of Galesburg. born in 1837 and died in 1856; Roger and Henry Williams, both of whom died the year of their hirth. the former in 1840 and the latter in 1842.

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Historical encyclopedia of Illinois, Part 144

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