History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 205

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875

USA > Illinois > Cook County > History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time > Part 205

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ADAM J. WECKLER, brick manufacturer, isa native of St. Joe, Michigan, born April 2. 1842. Ilis father settled in Chicago in October, 1836, and worked in the elevator of Dr. Wheeler. Ife then went to St. Joe, Mich., and was married to Miss Barbara Berg. returning to Chicago when the subject of this sketch was but twenty months old. He is still living In Chicago. Mr. Weckler from the age of eleven up to fifteen drove team+ with his father, and then worked for several months in the grocery store of J. L. Gray; then six months with the dry goods house of Mills, Bowen & Co. afterward known as Bowen Bros. In April, 1857, he became con- nected with the wholesale grocery house of G. & C. W. Church & Con, and remained with them for thirteen years. In October. 1869. he started in the wholesale and retail liquor business under the style of George & Weckler, Mr. George having sold out his in- terest, W. 11. Little became a member of the firm, to whom in May. 1870, Mr. Weckler sold out his interest. September 3 of the same year, coming to Lake View Township, he there bought a farm to engage in gardening, which he sokl the same year. In November, 1871, Mr. Weckler took charge of the business of the I.ill Chicago Brewing Company, Lill & Diversy, proprietors, (his wife heing a daughter of Michael Diversy, and having an interest in the Brewing Company), to extricate them trom financial difficuhies, which he did satisfactorily. lif 1872 he was elected secretary and now holds the position of director and secretary. He was also private secretary and manager, up to 1875. of William Lill in managing his affairs in connection with the Lill Chicago Brewing Company. In March, 1875, he became a partner with William Lill in his hirick yard, and upon the latter's death, August; 1875, became trustee of his estate. March 11, 1879. Mr. Weckler purchased 30 acres of land on Sec- tion 30, Lake View Township, and opened his present brick yard. He laid out a subdivision called Wecklerville, and devoted a lot

for school and church purposes, and has taken an active part in building up schools and churches both in Lake View Township and the city of Chicago. fle was for five years Assessor, and among the first of the Board of Trustees to agitate the subject of water works for the town of Lake View. Ile married, February 26, 1867, Miss Catharine Diversy, daughter of Michael Diversy. who settled in Chicago in 1836 and died December 12, 1869. They have three children-Gertrude, Adam F. and Kate.

AUGUST S. WEHRHEIM, brick manufacturer, of L .. Wehr- heim & Son, was born in Friedburg, near the village of Reichel- sheim, Germany, May 20, 1853 His parents. Lorenze and Catha- rine, came to America in 1854 and settled in New Jersey. In 1857 they moved to Chicago, where his father is still living, engaged in the brick business. Mr. Wehrheim in 1875 engaged with his fath- er in the brick business. In 1582 they started their present brick yard in Lake View Township as the firm of L, Wehrheim & Son. Ile married Miss Gertrude Seng, of Prussia, Germany, January 31, 1877. They have three children, August J., Clara C. and Joseph P.

C. S. WELLS, M. D., is a native of Hampton, Rock Island Co., Ill., born September 28, 1842. For one year he was con- nected with Dr. George Vincent in the drug business in Hampton. lle then went to Richmond, lowa, and for two years engaged in the drug business, In 1869 he went to Brooklyn, l'oweshick Co., fowa, and opened a drug store, and while residing there took up the study of medicine. lfe attended a course of lectures at Rush Medical College from 1875 to 1877, and graduated in the laiter year. Dr. Wells then returned to Brooklyn, and shortly afterward went to Dysart, Tama Co., Iowa, and engaged in the practice of medicine for one year. Ile then returned to Brooklyn, and two years after, in the fall of 1879, he went to Cherokee County, Kan., near Columbus, and practiced his profession. In June, 1881. Dr. Wells came to Chicago, and in July of the same year moved to Lake View Township and purchased the drug store of Laux & Woftmann, which he now carries on. He was appointed Postmaster of Wright's Grove Post-Office in October, 1881. He married Miss Susan Graham, of Yates County, N. Y. They have two children-Edgar C. and Elsie.

JOHN P WELLS, proprietor of meat market, was born at St. Joe, Mich., November 3, 1857. Hle lived with his parents up to the age of thirteen, and then learned his trade of buicher, and was afterward employed in diving cattle. In March, 1872, he came 10 Lake View Township and worked for Jacob C. Schiess. woll for six years. In March, 1878, Mr. Wells opened his present meat markel.

CHARLES WENDEL, brick mannfacturer, is a native of Prussia, Germany, born January 5, 1845. His parents, Ernst and Lizzie, came to America in 1864, locating in Chicago, and in the spring of 1883 settled in Lake View Township, where they now reside. Mr. Wendel in :866 learned the trade of a carpenter, and worked at it for ten years in Chicago, He then came to Lake View Township and worked in the brick yard of Frederick Lambeke, in 1870, becoming a partner with firm style of Lambeke & Wen- del. He married Miss Sophia Lambeke, of Pinssia, Germany, November 13. 1869. They have five children-Charles, Ida, Henry. Amanda and Ellen,

HENRY WENDEL., grocer, was horn in Mecklenburg. Ger- many, December 19, 1854. His parents, Ernst and Elsie, came to America when he was nine years of age, and settled in Chicago, where they are now living. Mr. Wendel learned the trade of jew- eler with Joseph Leiff. In 1878 he started a grocery store, remov- ing May 7. 1883, to Lake View Township. He married Miss Fred- rika Lambeke, of Chicago, September 8, 1878. They have two chil- dren-Walter and Arnold.

SEBASTIAN WERDEL, retired, is a native of Prussia, Ger- many, born April 21, 1824. ffe came to America and settled in Chicago in August, 1854, first working for ffenry Whitbeck, wagon manufacturer. In 1864 he worked in the brick yard of Slueter & Techimeyer, and in 1868 became a partner, which continned up to 1871, when Mr. Werdel sold out his interest. In't874 he came to Lake View Township, where he has since resided, and in the spring of 1883 he was elected Town Supervisor. He married Miss Josephine Theis, of Luxemburg, Germany. They have three chil- dren-Ida, Josephine and Theresa.

JEREMIAHI WHITTAKER, restaurant and saloon keeper. Graceland, P. O. Wright's Grove, was born in Cumberland, En. gland, March 9. 1837. While quite a youth he became employed in the Secretary's office of the Maryport & Carlisle Railroad, in Cum- berland, then as a clerk in the Anditor's department, and in the dif- ferent positions of assistant storekeeper in locomotive shops, ticket and telegraph clerk, civil engineer, and In the freight department of the same railroad. For two years he was in the employ of J. & T. Nelson, prominent contractors of Cumberland, constructors of the first brick machine in the world, and builders of the first two float- ing docks on the Solway coast, In 1856 Mr. Whittaker went to Blackburn, Lancashire, England, and for nine years engaged in trav-

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eling in the sale of woolen goods. In the year 1865 he came to America and engaged in the dry goods business in New Orleans, cootinuing the same in Chicago from 1868 until 1871, when he be- came eonoected with the Relief and And Society of Chicago, In 1873, Mr. Whittaker went to Lincoln, Mich., and took charge of a lumbering and general merchandise store in connection with Charles Mears. Returning in 1876, he became connected with the firm of J. & J. Titley, wholesale coal dealers. In 1881 Mr. Whittaker took up his residence in Lake View Township, and opened his present business at Graceland. Ile married, December 17, 1875, Mrs. Wil- helmina Hoffmeister, of Ludwigsburg, Germany. They have one child, Otelia Matilda.

CARL. WIECHMANN was born in Ragen, Germany, March 25, 1835, and learned the trade of silversmith. 1le came to America June, 1379 Incating in Chicago, and worked as silversmith, tin- smith and silver plater. Ile settled in Lake View Townsbip in 1880 and worked in the Pullman car shops, In 1882 he opened a saloon, with his nephew, Christiao Bantow, in May, 1883, opening his present place of business. He married Aliss Fredrika Bentner. of Berlin, Germany, May 22, 186t. They have five children- Annie, Frederick, Powell, Elizabeth and Augusta.

A. 11. WIEDHOFFT, carpenter and builder, was born in Lon- don, England, October 10, 1834. Ile learned his trade and served an apprenticeship in London and Paris. Coming to America in 1852. he settled in New York City for two years, and engaged as a ship-joiner and in cabinet-making business. Ile then went to Baf- falo and worked as a cabinet-joiner on the steamboat "Queen of West," and came with it to {'leveland, where he apprenticed himself for one year with Cubin & Collott, contractors and builders. Hle then went to Chillicothe in the interest of that firm, and then to Cincinnati and Memphis. In the fall of 1856 he came to Chicago, and in 1857 started in business for himself, which he continued up to 1871, when he settled In Lake View Township, carrying on his shop in Chicago up to 1880, Closing this out he built his present shop in Lake View Township. He married Miss Isabella Turner, of Preston, England. She died in 1875, leaving three children- Mary, Alfied aod William, He again married Miss Bertha Nel- son, of Sweden. They have one child, George.

JAMES J. WILSON, Town Clerk of Lake View Township. is a native of Dublin, Ireland, and was born September 2. 1835. Ilis parents, Alfred T. and Catharine, came to America in 1847 and settled first in New York City, and in 1851 moved to Milwaukee, Wis., where they engaged in farming. They are now living in Springfield, Ohlo. Mr. Wilson remained with his parents assist- ing them on their larm until 1858, when he came to Chicago. lle then, in the Interests of the firms of Holt & Mason, and of I.ud- ington, Wells & Sinclair and other lumbermen, went into the lumber reginns of northern Michigan for four years. In August, 1862. during the progress of the Civil War, Mr. Wilson enlisted in Company :), 24th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, and was after- ward detailed into the Pioneer Brigade of the Army of the Cum- berland, and served as a pootonier, as well also as Commissary Sergeant. Ile was then made Sergeant-Major of the Ist U'nited States Veteran Volunteer Engineers, and was mustered out as such at Nashville, Tenn., June 26, 1865, lle then returned to Michigan for one winter, and in the spring of 1866 came again to Chicago. He became at once connected with Pinkerton's detec- tive service, of which he was a member for three years. In March, 1869, he took up his residenee in Lake View Township, and was under General J. D. Webster in the construction of the United States Marine Hospital. In November, 1871, Mr. Wilson was elected Town Clerk of Lake View, which position be filled up to April, 1875. In 1878 he was re-elected to the same position, and still holds it. Ile is a member of Post 28, Grand Army of the Re- publie; also a member and one of the organizers of the Chicago Union Veteran League and Chieagn Union Veteran Club, He is one of the organizers of the Chicago Yacht Club, Mr. Wilson married. November, 1967, Miss Salina K. Duke. daughter of Thomas Duke, of Milwaukee. Wis. She died March 27. 1872.

GEORGE WITTHOLD, florist, was born in the city of Han- over, Germany, April 25, 1833. He learned the trade of florist, and was for many years employed In the gardens of the King of Hanover, and for two years engaged in the seed and nursery husi- ness in Lubeck, Germany, Ile came to America in May, 1857.

and settled In Chicago, and for twenty-two years carried on a green- house at the corner of North Avenue and Clark Street. Ile came to Lake View Township in 1869 and started his present green- house. Mr. Wittbold married, May 29. 1863, Miss Emma Friecker, of Germany. Her parents settled in Chicago in 1852, sad now reside in Park Ridge, Cook County. They have seven children- Henry, Frederick, Gustavus, Louis, Mari, Otto and Sophia,

HERMAN WOELTZEN, groeer, was born in Hanover, Ger- many, October 6, 1856. He learned the trade of a carpenter with his father and worked for him in llanover. Ilis parents, llerman and Odelhert, came to America in 1872 and settled in Chicago, and are still living there. Mr. Woeltzen from 1872 to 1876 clerked in the grocery store of Lillienstrom. In 1876 he en. gaged in the milk business, which he continued np to March, 1883. when he moved to Lake View Township and opened his present grocery store. lle married Miss Bertha Massmann, of Prussia, Germany.

FREDERICK WOLFF. briek manufacturer, was born in Prussia, Germany, April 27. 1840. Ile learned the trade of car- penter in his native country. He came in 1864 direct to Chicago, where he worked as carpenter up 10 1871. In 1872 he started # brick.yard with Frederick Zapel as the firm of Zapel & Wolff. on the North Branch of the Chicago River, which continued up tn 1876. Mr. Zapel having withdrawn from the firm, Mr. Wulff came to Lake View Township and started his present brick yard. He married Miss Caroline Wit, of Prussia, Germany, September 3, 1865. They have five chillreo- Minnie, Caroline, Loise, August and Ida.

G. A. WRISLEY, of the firm of G. A. Wrisley & Co., soap mannfactureis Chicago, is a native of Franklin County, Mass., born March 3t, 1835. His early life was spent on the hills of Massa- chusetts. In January, 1862, he came to Chicago and engaged is the manufacture of soaps in connection with his brother, Ailen B., as the firm of Wrisley Brus. ; in 1871 he removed to his present location, where he carries on business under the fim name of G.A. Wri-ley & Co. Mr. Wrisley took up his residence in Lake View Township November 15. 1882. Mr. Wrisley married, Nov- ember 29. 1857, Miss Olive Burr, a native of New Ymk State, the daughter of David Burr, of Chicago, and neice nf Jonathan Burr, both early settlers of Chicago. They have two children- Jonathan B. and Nettie.

FRANCIS YOTT. of the firm of F. Yout & Son, liverymen. Chicago, was born in Kingston, Canada West, April 25, 1830, lle engaged in driving a hack and cab in Kingston. 1a 1850 he moved to Chicago, and at once established himself in business, where he was the first one to keep hacks and eabs for hire. From 1864 to 1869 he carried on business under the firm oame of Y'ntt & Lasher, after which he was alone. In 1874 he sold out and retired, and in 1576 again established himself in the livery business. Mr. Yott took up his residence in Lake View Township first in Msteh, 1868. He twice returned to Chicago, and the third time. in 1879, came to Lake View Township tn reside permanently, Mr. You married Miss Elizs Kinney. of New York State. They have one child-William F., now in partnership with his father.

FREDERICK ZAPEI., briek manufacturer, was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, May 25. 1834. and there learned the trade of brick-maker. Immigrating to America in 1857, he came direct to Chicago, and first engaged in house moving. In 1874 he started a brick yard on the North Branch of the Chicagn River, and in 1879 moved to Lake View Township and started his present brick yard. He married, June 28, 1857, Miss Fredrika Gemz, of Meck- lenberg. Germany. They have eight children-William, Herman, John. Frederick, Jr., Otio, Elizabeth, Charles and Cadie. Mrs. Zapel's parents settled in Chicago in 1857.

OTTO ZAPEL, briek manufacturer, was born in Mecklen- burg. Germanv. October 9. 1830. He learned the trade of black- smith. In 1868 he came to America, locating at Chicago, where he opened a blacksmith shop, which he carried on up to 1882. Ile then moved to Lake View Township and purchased the brick yard of William Strauss, which he has carried on since. Ile married, July 5. 1860. Miss Fredrika lleiden, of Straussen, Germany. They have four children -- Mary (now Mrs. Rudolph Rossow), Frederick, Bertha and Otto, Jr.

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HISTORY OF LAKE VIEW.

CHICAGO EWELL

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VIEW IN HUMBOLDT PARK.

Copyrighted. By permission Chicago Eng. Co.

VIEW IN GARFIELD PARK.

HISTORY OF JEFFERSON.

This township is bonnded as follows: On the north by Norwood Park, Niles and Evanston; on the east by Lake View and Chicago; on the south by Chicago and Cicero; and on the west by Leyden and Norwood Park. Originally the area of the township was that of a con- gressional township-six miles square; but in 1873, the town of Norwood Park was organized, and the area of Jefferson, as likewise of Leyden, was diminished by four and a half square miles.

This township is almost wholly level prairie, the prin- cipal variations from this being Sand Ridge and Union Ridge, the former extending from the old Wentworth Hotel south to Whisky Point, and having a quite uniform elevation of twenty-four feet above Lake Michigan: the latter extending from the north line of the township to the south line, bearing slightly to the west, and having an elevation of about thirty-three feet above Lake Michigan, The only stream of water run- ning through the township is the North Branch of the Chicago River, which drains the north and cast portions of it. entering it from Niles Township about midway of the northern line of Section 5, and after pursuing a more or less crooked course, leaving it about a quarter of a mile south of the northeast corner of Section 25. The southwest corner of the township is drained by the Desplaines, This township lies in that portion of the county covered with a heavy deposit of drift, probably underlaid by Niagara limestone, but for its geological features the reader is referred to the geology of the county.

So far as ascertainable the following are the names of the earliest pioneers in the township: John Kinzie Clark, in 1830, There is no doubt that John K. Clark was the first land claimant within the limits of Jefferson Township. In this year he left Chicago, then but a small cluster of log hints, with his worklly goods, consisting of a few personal effects, and, as is believed, a team of Indian ponies, for the purpose of making a home for himself on Uncle Sam's domain. His log shanty built that year contained two rooms, and was covered with a " shake " roof. It stond within the belt of timber which extended along both sides of the North Branch of the Chicago River from its source to its junction with the South Branch, eight miles above the junction, and one mile above the portage of the North Branch, later called Gamble's Ford. The logs of which it was built were abont one foot in diameter, and were cut by Mr. Clark from the timber which surrounded its immediate lora- tion, as were also the shakes which formed the roof. So thick was the timber around it that it conkl not be seen until quite nearly approached. Willis Scott, one of the oldest living residents of Chicago, and Mrs. Archibald Clybourn, almost as old a resident, both remember this løg shanty well, and speak c' having spent numerous enjoyable occasions beneath its hospitable roof, and of the protection afforded by the thick surrounding wouds front the piercing winner winds of the bleak prairie which extended many miles towant the west and southwest.

John K. Clark* is represented by those who remem- ber him as one of the best Di men. He was a kind "See portrait Lo page 101.

husband and father, and an excellent neighbor, and was universally respected for his many manly characteris- tics. His father was John Clark, au Indian trader and au Englishman. His mother was Elizabeth Mckenzie. who. when eight years old, together with her sister Mar- garet, who was ten years old, was taken prisoner in Vir- ginia by the Shawnee Indians, and by them carried to the Fort Wayne country, While with the Indians, with whom she remained twelve years, she became the wife, according to Indian customs, of John Clark, by whom she had three children, John Kinzie Clark, the ellest, being born in 1784. Her sister Margaret was similarly married to John Kinzie. The other two children of Mrs. John Clark were twins, named William and Sarah. Sarah was married to William Aehart, in Virginia : lived a portion of her married life at Door Prairie, Indiana, and died in 1877. in Delaware county, Jowa, William was killed at the battle of the Thames, October 5. 1813. at the same time with Tecumseh.

When Mrs. John Clark had been with the Indians twelve years, she was found in 1790 by her father, who had been searching for her ever since her capture. John Clark refusing to marry her according to legal form. she returned to Virginia with her father, taking with ber two of her three children, John K. and Sarah, lear- ing Wilham with his father. Some years after her return to Virginia she was married to Jonas Clybourn, by whom she had two children, Archibakl and Henley.

In 1820 Jolin K. Clark came to Chicago, and in 1821 removed to Virginia, and in 1823 returned to Chi- cago, bringing with him his half-brother, Archibald Cly- bourn, who at that tinte was twenty-me years old. Two years after this, in 1825, John K. Clark, on the first assessinent roll for Cook County, stands assessed at $250, the taxes on which were $2.50. As no taxes were levied on real estate at that time, this $250 repre- sented personal property.

On July 21, 182g, a double marriage occurred at Holterman's Grove, now Newark, Kendall Co., 111., Rev. Isaac Scarritt being the officiating minister. The parties married were John Kinzie Clark to Miss l'er- melia Scott, sister of Willis Scott, already mentioned, and Willard Scott, a brother of Willis, to Aliss Caroline Hawley. Miss Permelia Scott was fifteen years old at the time of her marriage. With her as his wife, John K. Clark moved into his new log house ou the North Branch in 1830. Here two children wore born to him, named respectively Elizabeth and Lucinda, one, named Hadassah, having been born in Chicago previous to his moving to his claim. In 1846 Hadassah was mar- ried in Naperville to Walter H. Millen, and now lives at Deerfield, on her mother's homestead. Elizabeth was married in 1854 to llobart J. Millen, a brother of Hadassah's husband, and died in 1868. Lucinila died when two years old.

Mr. and Mrs John K. Clark lived on their farm in Jellersun until 1836, when he sold his homestead to a Mr. Brownelt, and a claim he had to Archibald Ch bourn, and bought two hundred acres of land in North- field. After living there some years, the property, with the exception of Mrs. Clark's dower, was sold. Her

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portion was surveyed, set apart to her, and reserved from sale. In :864 she sold this remnant of the farm, and bought a small farm in Deerfield, upon which was a very comfortable dwelling house, and where she died in 1877. Mr. Clark died in 1865, at the age of eighty-one.

John K. Clark was popularly known as " Indian Clark,"on acconut of his intercourse with and friendship for the Indians, and also, it may be, because he had, previous to his marriage to Miss Permelia Scott, had an Indian wife, by whom he had one child, who is still liv- ing. By the Indians themselves he was known as " No- ni-mo-a," or " Prairie Wolf."

Mr. Clark did not long remain the only settler in Jefferson Township. John Noble, still living in Lake View, came to New York from England in 1823. In the winter of 1829-30 he went to New Orleans with a stock of goods, and in 1830 went to St. Louis, In St. Louis he bought a horse and rode him to Springfield, where he sold the horse, and returned to England for the purpose of bringing his father's family to Morgan County, Illinois. On the return to Illinois he bought a

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horse in Cleveland, Ohio, and upon arriving at Detroit left his father's family in Detroit to come to Chicago by the first vessel round the lakes, himself riding on horseback to Chicago. This vessel proved to be the schooner " Governor Cass," and arrived at Chicago with the rest of the party, consisting of Mark Noble, Sr., and wife, Mark Noble, Jr., and two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, Joseph Curtis and Benjamin Lupton. The Noble family occupied the old Kinzie house during the winter of 1831-32. In the spring of the latter year Mark Noble, Sr., bought a tract of land on the south side of the Chicago River, east of State Street and north of Madison, containing about four acres, and upon which stood a shanty, in which the family lived until after the Black Hawk War, when John and Mark Noble, Jr., and their sister Elizabeth went up the North Branch to a claim about one-fourth of a mile above where Bel- mont Avenue crosses it, and lived upon it until 1834. Late in the year 1833 Mark Noble, Sr., bought one hundred and sixty acres of timber land in the south- western portion of Niles Township, of a half-breed named Jean Mirandeau, and in addition took up enough land to make six hundred acres, a part of it in Niles and a part in Jefferson Township, now Norwood Park. Upon this claim he built a one-story frame house large enough for his whole family, into which all moved early in 1834, the younger Nobles having sold their claim lower down the river. This house was one of the first frame houses built within the township, if not the first. Here Mark Noble, Sr., lived until 1839, when he died. Mark Noble, Jr., lived on this farm until 1843, when he removed to Wisconsin. In 1849 or 1850 he went to Texas, where he died in July, 1863. Elizabeth Noble married Robert Robinson, and died in 1847. Mary Noble was married to George Bickerdike in December, 1833, and is still living, in Yorkshire, England. John Noble is still living in Chicago, at the advanced age of eighty-one, with an adopted daughter, who is married to E. B. Savage.

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History of Cook County, Illinois From the Earliest Period to the Present Time, Part 205

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900 Publication date: 1884 Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas Number of Pages: 875

Author: Andreas, A. T. (Alfred Theodore), 1839-1900
Publication date: 1884
Publisher: Chicago : A.T. Andreas
Number of Pages: 875