USA > Illinois > DuPage County > History of Du Page County, Illinois (Historical, Biographical) > Part 62
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where David learned the trade of blacksmith- ing. In 1821, he made a trip to New Or- leans, on the City of Washington, and, in 1822, he was appointed to do blacksmithing for the Indians at Chicago, where he worked for eight years; he then carried mail for a year between Chicago and Fort Wayne; served with Capt. Bordman in the Black Hawk war, and then hired to the Government again. In 1836, he located on a farm at the forks of the Du Page River, and kept a blacksmith shop there for a number of years; from there he moved on a farm in Winfield Township, Du Page County, where he lived to within a few years of his death, which occurred near Au- rora, Ill., April 8, 1881. Mr. McKee was twice married-first, to Miss Wealthy Scott. a sister of Willard Scott, Esq., of Naper- ville, Ill. : two children were born-Stephen and Josephus; the latter died when he was young. Stephen served four years in the army during the rebellion, after which he re- moved to Nebraska, where he died. The second wife was Miss Sarah Ward, a native of New York; they had three children-Mrs. Wealthy Bicknell, of Cedar Springs, Mich. ; Miss Carrie A. Fisher, of St. Louis, Mo., and James W. McKee, living here on the old homestead, where he was born. November 28, 1860, he married Miss Frances L. Bird, of Winnebago County, Ill.
WILLIAM A. MACAULEY, farmer, P. O. Turner, is a native of St. Lawrence Coun- ty, N. Y .; he was born September 21, 1823. and is the second of ten children born to George and Mary Miller Macauley: they were natives of Ireland and New York City, sho being of Scotch descent, He came to America when a young man; he had been educated as a Presbyterian minister; his father was a successful merchant of Dublin, and placed his son in circumstances that he was not re- quired to follow the ministry, and did not.
George Macauley married in New York City, and came to Illinois in the summer of 1841, and occupied a claim he had bought of Mr. Town, which was located in what is now Winfield Township, Du Page County, and lived on the place until his death. Mrs. Macauley died about two years previous to her husband. Our subject was raised on the farm; he received a common-school educa- tion. In 1841, he and his brother Walter M. drove a team to the present place. In 1864, he married Miss Anna Whitmer, a native of Niagara County, N. Y., where she lived when married, she being engaged as a school teacher. They have three children-Will- iam L., David W. and Mary F. In 1849. Mr. Macauley went to California overland with cattle, being seven months on the trip: he lived there three years; he followed mining one year, and conducted a grocery and butcher shop for about two years; he then returned and kept a general store in Elgin for about seven years, when he came to the old homestead, and. except three years' resi- dence in Chicago, has lived here since.
M. W. MURRAY, farmer, P. O. Winfield, is a native of Ireland; he was born in the year 1823, and is the eldest of four children born to John and Mary Brenan Murray; he was of Scotch descent and born in Ireland; he married in his native land and came to Canada soon after, where he lived for six or eight years, and then came to the United States and settled in Connecticut, and, in 1835, he came West by the lakes and bought a place on the lake shore, at Grosse Point, and. the next fall, went to Chicago, where he lived until 1837, and then made a claim in what is now Winfield Township, Du Page County, Ill., and occupied and improved the place where he lived until his death. Mrs. Murray lived on the old homestead until her death. Our subject lived with his parents
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until he was about nineteen years of age; he then began for himself, working by the month for a season, and then rented a place, which he farmed a year, and, on becoming of age, he was elected Constable of Wayne Township to fill a vacancy, and he served in all for seven years. During the last four years, he also served as Deputy Sheriff; he then moved on a place which his father deeded to him, and farmed the same since. In January, 1845, he married Miss Martha Ann Billings, a native of Indiana, and came to Dn Page County, Ill., with her parents, who were early pioneers. She died May 1, 1872. By the marriage there were nine children, of whom seven are living. September 29, 1875, he married Mrs. Ketchum, formerly Miss Lu- cinda C. Seott, a native of Pennsylvania; she came to Du Page County in 1856. By the present marriage, there have been two chil- dren, both of whom have died. He is a Re- publican in his politics.
D. R. MARTIN, farmer, P. O. Turner, is a native of Erie County, N. Y .; he was born in the year 1843, and is the second of eight children born to Christian F. and Sarah Rhodes Martin; they came to Kane County, Ill., in 1849, and to Du Page County in 1865; they now live near Naperville. Our subject was raised on the farm; he received a common-school education. When he was about twenty-two years of age, he began farming the home farm on the shares, and, in 1871, he married Miss Lucinda Pratt, a na- tive of Du Page County, Ill. After the mar- riage, they came to the present place, which he rented a few years and then bought the same, it being the old David Martin home- stead, and has lived here since. By the mar- riage there are four children-Jessie, Olive, Albert and Cora. Mr. Martin is Republican in politics; he has served as Assessor and school offieer. He owns 122 acres, located
one and three-fourths miles west of Tur- ner.
JONATHAN R. MATHER, farmer, P. O. Warrenville, is a native of Du Page County, Ill. ; he was born in the year 1849, and is the seventh of ten children born to Israel and his second wife, Hannah Royce Mather; they were natives of Essex County, N. Y. Our subject was raised on the farm; he received a common-school education. At the age of sixteen, he began doing for himself, working by the month, and, after becoming of age, he began farming the home farm on shares. In 1877, he married Miss Nettie L. Ketchum, a native of Du Page County, Ill .; they had two children, one living-Israel. Since his mar- riage, Mr. Mather has farmed the home farm.
HENRY H. MARTIN, farmer, P. O. Tur- ner, is a native of Erie County, N. Y .; he was born in the year 1848, and is the fifth of nine children born to Christian F. and Sarah Rhodes Martin. Henry H. Martin was raised on his father's farm, and received a common. school education; he lived at home until he was twenty- four years of age; had an interest or share in the product of the home farm, since he was sixteen or seventeen years of age. In 1872, he married Miss Clara A. Hodges, a native of Pennsylvania; she came to Du Page County, Ill., with her parents, who settled on a farm in Winfield Township. After the marriage, they settled on the pres- ent place, which he bought of his father, and has lived here since. He owns eighty-six and one-half acres located one mile west of Turner. By the marriage there have been three chil- dren, two of whom are living-Elmer and George. Mr. Martin is a Republican. He is at present Highway Commissioner.
DANIEL W. MARTIN, farmer, P. O. Turner; is a native of Kane County, Ill .; he was born in the year 1851, and is the fifth of eight children born to Christian F. and
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Sarah Rhodes Martin. Mr. Martin was raised on the farm, and received a common school education. In 1865, the family moved to Du Page County, Ill., and, in 1872, he began farming his father's place on the shares, and, in 1874, he married Miss Jennie Pratt, a na- tive of Wayne Township, Du Page County, Ill .. and daughter of Obadiah Pratt, one of the pioneers of Wayne Township. After the marriage, he rented the farm, and, in the spring of 1881, he bought the place, his par- ents then retiring to Naperville, where they now live. Mr. Martin is a Republican. He owns 117 acres, located one mile south of Turuer. In addition to farming, Mr. Martin has conducted a thresher for the past ten years.
RUSSEL MANVILLE, farmer, P. O. Turner, is a native of Whitehall, Washing- ton Co., N. Y .; he was born June 5, 1818; he was raised on the farm and received a common-school education; his father died when he was about fourteen years of age; he lived on the home farm with his mother till he was twenty years of age; he then decided to go West, and, accordingly, took the canal to Buffalo, thence by boat to Detroit, and railroad to Ypsilanti, and team and stage to St. Joe and Jake to Chicago; thence to War- renville, where, the next spring, he rented a farm and farmed one season, after which he worked during summers and taught school in Marshall and Tazewell Counties, and, about 1845, he came to his present place, and has lived here since. In 1848, he visited Ver- mont, and married Miss Julia C. Smith, a native of that State. By the marriage there are four children-Lotan S., United States mail agent; Mrs. Jane E. Smith, of Wayne Township; E. H., of Oak Park; Martha J., at home. He is a Republican in politics, and has served as Collector one year. He owns 175 acres, located four and one-half miles southwest of Turner.
EDWARD P. MACK, farmer, P. O. War- renville; is a native of Susquehanna Coun- ty, Penn .; he was born in the year 1815, and was raised on the farm and received but a very limited common-school education. At the age of twenty, he went to Rockingham, Vt., and learned the clothier and cloth-dress- ing business, working about five years. He then returned home and boated on the Schuyl- kill Canal one season, and, in 1841, he came West and sold dry goods and groceries from a wagon in Wisconsin and Illinois. He then engaged in breaking prairie in Wisconsin, which business he followed for two seasons. He then bought his present place and occu- pied the same. He owns 240 acres, located two and one-half miles north of Warrenville. In 1842, he married Miss Maria Royce, a native of Essex County, N. Y .; she came to Will County, Ill., with her parents; she died in July, 1882; there have been ten children, of whom seven are living-Abner, farmer in Iowa; Edward. farmer in Nebraska; Charles, employed on the Chicago & North-Western Railway; Orland, farmer in Will County, Ill. ; Adaline, at home; Elmer, at home, and Mil- ton, at school, Aurora. Mr. Mack is a Re- publican.
J. C. NELTNOR, general store and nurs- ery, Turner, is a native of Pennsylvania; he was born in the city of Erie, in the year 1841, and is the eldest of six children born to Francis X. and Mary A. Runser Neltnor; they were natives of Baden, Germany; they came to America when young; they married in Pennsylvania. He was a merchant tailor, and came to Du Page County, Ill., in 1847, and conducted his business in Bloomingdale until his death, in 1881, Mrs. Neltnor is living in the old home at Bloomingdale. Our subject lived with his parents until he became of age. When about ten years of age, he engaged as clerk in a general store in Bloom-
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ingdale, and clerked there until 1861, when he became a partner with Dr. Sedgwick in a general store, and continued there until 1864, when he sold out and came to Turner and en- gaged in his present business. In 1868, his place was destroyed by fire, and he afterward built his present place. In 1870, he estab- lished, in company with Mr. C. W. Rich- mond, the Grove Place Nurseries, and, in 1874, he became the sole proprietor and has conducted the business since. In 1882, he established Neltnor's Fruit and Flower Grow- er, a horticultural magazine, published quar- terly. He is a Democrat in politics and has served as Secretary of the County Committee for a number of years. In 1864, he married Miss Mary E. Kinney, a native of Du Page County, Ill. They have six children.
CAPT. G. N. ROUNDY, farmer, P. (). Turner, is a native of Spafford, Onondaga County, N. Y .; he was born December 4, 1811; he was raised on his father's farm and received a common-school education; on be- coming of age, he began on his own account, working by the month; ho also spent two years in Canada, collecting for a party doing business there, and, in 1836. November 12. he drove the first car over the Erie & Kala- mazoo Railroad, from Toledo to Adrian, now part of Southern Michigan. November 1, 1837, he came to Illinois and bought a claim in what is now Wayne Township, Du Page County, and improved the place, and, in the fall of 1843, he sold out and came to Win- field Township, and has farmed in the town- ship ever since. He owns 120 acres, located one mile east of Turner. He married Miss Maria L. Kimball, a native of Vermont; she came to Illinois with her parents. By the marriage, there have been twelve children, of whom seven are living. He is Republi- can in his politics; he has served as Assessor of Winfield Township some seven or eight
years, and has held the office of Supervisor. During the war, he was appointed County Marshal; he has also served as Road Com- missioner for two terms, and he was Captain of the old Winfield Cavalry Company.
DAVID ROOT, farmer, P. O. Batavia, is a native of Piermont, near Haverhill, N. H .; he was born November S, 1815; his parents, Ephraim and Vashti Burd Root. were natives of New Hampshire and Vermont. He was a farmer, and moved to Genesee County. N. Y., in 1822. Mrs. Root died there in 1829, and Mr. Root later moved to Michigan, and thence to Illinois, and finally died in Indiana, where he lived with a son. Our subject was brought up at home until his mother died; he then went to live with an uncle, for whom he worked on the farm, receiving $7 per month, and, after two years. he began teach- ing at the age of sixteen, having a school of fifty scholars and receiving $12 per month, for a four-months' term. He then went to Kentucky, where he had brothers living, and taught school at Newport and in Fayette and Harrison Counties, for seven years. When Mr. Root first went to Kentucky, he made a trip horseback to Michigan; this was about the year 1832, and, in 1839, he came horse- back to Illinois, and bought a claim to his present place, which he occupied, and has lived here since, except about a year he lived in Indiana. In 1841, he married Miss Syl- vania Graves, a native of New York; she came to Du Page County with her parents; she died September 22, 1847; they had three children. In 1847, he married Miss Marietta Hallenbeck, a native of Erie County, N. Y .; she came to Du Page County, Ill., with her parents, in 1843; they had seven children. He is Republican, and a member of the Baptist Church for the past forty years; also Mrs. Root is a member of the Baptist Church. He owns 190 acres. located three miles east of Batavia.
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W. T. REED, Reed & Stark, general store, Turner; is a native of Du Page County, Ill .; he was born on the farm in Wayne Township, in the year 1843, and is the third of seven chil- dren born to Geo. W. and Juda A. Ellenwood Reed, of Wayne Township. Our subject was raised on the farm and received a common- school education. After he became of age, he began farming on the shares, which he contin- ued until 1876, when he removed to Turner and engaged in partnership with Mr. Voll in the general store business, and, about one and a half years later, Mr. Voll sold his interest to Mr. Stark, and they have conducted it since. In 1864, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-first Regiment Illinois Infantry, and was in the service about five months. In 1878, he married Miss Maggie Campbell, a native of Philadelphia; she came to Du Page Coun- ty, Ill., with her parents. By the marriage there is one child-Jennie Irene. He is Re- publican in politics, and has served as Police Magistrate for two years.
O. K. SANDERS, commercial traveler, Turner, is a native of Cattaraugus County, N. Y .; he was born in the year 1836, and is the eldest of four children, born to James and Betsy Irish Sanders; they were natives of Vermont and New York; they married in New York, and came West in 1841, and rented a farm in Wayne Township, Du Page County, Ill., and, two years later, bought a piece of land and began building a house on the place, but died before it was completed, and Mrs. Sanders sold the place and soon after married Mr. O. Higgins, and lived in Wayne Township until about 1881, when they moved to Turner, where they now live. Our subject lived at home until he was about eighteen; he received a common-school edu- cation; he spent one year in the East, and, while there. taught writing, and returning home in the spring, clerked in a store in
Wayne during the summers and teaching writing in the winters. He then accepted the position of Deputy Circuit Clerk, under Mr. Whitney, and held the position about one year, when he enlisted in the Fifty-fifth Regiment Illinois Infantry, Company, C, and was appointed Quartermaster Sergeant, and served fifteen months, when he was dis- charged, after which he became a citizen em- ploye in the Quartermaster's department, and held the position until the close of the war, when he returned home to Wayne Township. and clerked in a general store for about one and one-half years, at, Lincoln, Ill. He then engaged in the business at that place on his own account, which he conducted until the fall of 1869; he then became a salesman in the office of Franklin MeVeagh & Co., of Chi- cago, and, four years later, began traveling on the road for the same house, with whom he has remained since. In 1865, he married Miss Elvira Currier, a native of Du Page County, Ill .; she died in 1876. By the mar- riago there was one child-Bertha D. In 1878. he married Mrs. Almeda E. Townsend, a native of Utica, N. Y. There are no children.
EDGAR STEPHENS, of Wiant & Stephens, general store, Turner; is a native of Morris County, N. J .; he was born in the year 1845. In 1847, the family moved West to Illinois, and located at Geneva, where they lived for seven years, then moved on a farm, two miles south of Batavia. Our subject lived at home until 1861, when he enlisted in the Forty- second Regiment Illinois Infantry, Company I, and served three years; he was in the bat- tles of Stone River, Chickamanga, Mission Ridge; at the latter place was wounded and joined his regiment about five months later, and took part in the Atlanta campaign -battles of Jonesboro and Kenesaw Moun - tain; from the army he came home and en- gaged as fireman on the North-Western Rail-
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way for two years; he then became engineer and continued with the company nine years longer. He then became a partner in the present business. He is Republican in poli- tics, and has held the office of Trustee of Tur- ner and Township Treasurer. In 1869, he married Miss Alice Wiant, daughter of Joel Wiant, Esq., of Turner. By the marriage, there have been four children, one of whom is living, viz., Lloyd Stephens.
JOSEPH W. SMITH, Postmaster, Tur- ner, is a native of Cazenovia, Madison Co., N. Y .; he was born in the year 1812. In 1819, the family moved to Gates, Monroe County, N. Y., where his father died; he then went back to Cazenovia, and lived with his uncle until he was about sixteen years of age, during which time he worked at black- smithing; he then went to Greece, Monroe Co., N. Y., where his mother lived. February 28, 1829, he enlisted in the United States Army, and was in the service for three years; he then learned the cooper's trade and followed the business in Monroe County and in the State of Michigan for eighteen years, where he engaged first as trackman and then as fire- man on the Michigan Central Railroad, and later, he engaged with the New Albany & Sa- lem Railroad, having charge of their black- smith shops. In 1857, he came to Turner and engaged as blacksmith for the old Galena Railroad. During the war, he enlisted in the One Hundred and Forty-first Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, and served about five months, and. on his return, he resumed his place with the railroad company. In 1873, he was com- missioned Postmaster of Turner, and has held the position since. October 20, 1833, he married Miss Eliza Ann, daughter of Dr. Moses Lewis, of Greece, N. Y .; they had five children, three of whom are living-two sons and one danghter; the latter married Mr. D. C. Stanley, of Downer's Grove.
C. P. STARK, of Reed & Stark, general store, Turner, is a native of Du Page Coun- ty, Ill .; he was born on the farm in the year 1855, and is the second of nine children born to Martin and Margaret (Voll) Stark; they were natives of Germany; she came to Amer- ica with her parents, and he came to America in 1847, and settled in Du Page County, Ill. Our subject lived at home until he was about fifteen years of age, then engaged as a clerk in a general store at Turner, and continued clerking at Turner and Chicago for seven years (one year in Chicago), and, in 1877, he purchased Mr. Voll's interest in the business and formed the firm of Reed & Stark. In 1881, he married Miss Ida M. Reed, a native of Du Page County, Ill., daughter of George W. Reed, of Wayne Township. Mr. Stark is Democratic in politics, and has served as Town Clerk three terms and Village Clerk four or five years.
CHRISTIAN D. SMAIL, farmer, P. O. Winfield, is a native of Mecklenburg, Ger- many; he was born in the year 1812; he was raised a farmer and shepherd, and, in 1849, he married Miss Mary Witt, a native of Mecklenburg, and the same year came to America, and lived for three years in Chi- cago, and then came to De Plaines, where he lived about one and one-half years, and, in 1853, he came to Du Page County and rented a farm in Winfield Township. In 1858, he bought and occupied his present place. There were two children-one liv ng-Caro- line; she married, January 15, 1874, Mr. Christian Fessler, a native of Baden, Ger- many; he was born October 4, 1841; he was raised a farmer, and received a common- school education, and served as a teamster in the French and German war; he came to America in 1871, and worked at farming in Du Page County. By the marriage there are two children-Flora and George. Mr. and
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Mrs. Fessler live on the old homestead with Mr. Smail. He owns forty acres, located two and a half miles south of Winfield.
JOHN WEST, drugs and general store, Turner, is a native of England; he was born in the year 1829. In 1830, his parents moved to America, and located in Oneida County, N. Y., where they engaged in the man- ufacture of woolens, which business they and their ancestors carried on in England for generations. Our subject was raised in Oneida County, and received his education at the Whitesboro Academy. When about eighteen, he began as book-keeper in a gen- eral store, and, in 1850, he visited one year in England; in 1852, he engaged in that busi- ness on his own account; in 1855, he went to California via Panama and lived there about fifteen months, being engaged in mining; he then returned East and soon after took charge of a general store at Blackberry, III., and, in the spring of 1857, he located at Turner and opened a general store, and has conducted the business ever since, he being the oldest merchant in the town. In 1852, he married Miss Elizabeth Allison, a native of Leeds, England; she came to America with her par- ents. By the marriage there have been four children, three of whom are living. He was formerly a Whig, and, later, a Republican; from 1860 to 1869, he was Postmaster of Turner; he has also served as Town Clerk, in all about fifteen years. In 1848, Mr. West and his father 'subscribed for twenty shares in the old Galena & Chicago Railroad, and that $2,000 has now increased to $20,000, besides the dividends, and has remained in the fam- ily. The children are as follows: John A. West. musician and organist in the Church of the Ascension, Chicago ; Mrs. J. T. Hosford, and Annie West, Utica, N. Y.
JOEL WIANT, retired, Turner Junction. The subject of this sketch, whose portrait ap-
pears in this work, is a native of Luzerne County, Penn .; he was born December 10, 1812, and was raised on the farm; his educa- tion was obtained in the common schools of his day; he lived at home until he became of age, and then went to the vicinity of Mauch Chunk, where he was principally engaged as a clerk in a hotel until 1837, when, with a Benjamin Fuller and family, he came West by team, via Chicago, and stopped at Spencer's Cross- ing, owing to the roads. He and Mr. Fuller took horses and prospected, visiting Rockford and Dixon, returning, intending to go to Dixon, but, owing to the roads, they stopped in Wayne Township, where they bought claims. Mr. Wiant lived with Mr. Fuller about one and one-half years; he then went East and married Miss Rhoda Wolever, a na- tive of Sunbury, Penn .; after their marriage, they occupied their place in Wayne, to which piece after piece of land was added, until fin- ally it contained over 400 acres Mrs. Wiant died June 6, 1851; they had four children, all of whom are living to-day. October 17, 1852, he married Miss Dorcas Wolever, a twin sister of the first wife. By this mar- riage one child has been born, which died September 22, 1865. In 1858, he moved to the Junction, trading a part of his farm for a store property and grounds. He conducted the store until 1862, when he traded his business for a farm near Wheaton and a village prop. erty in that village, where he moved, and, in 1865, he returned to Turner and opened up in the old store again, firm, J. Wiant & Sons, and was connected with the business about four years, since which time his sons have conducted the business. He then built his present elegant brick house, where he has lived retired since. In politics, Mr. Wiant was formerly a Whig, but, since the organization of the Republican party, has voted that ticket. While in Wayne, he served as Assessor, Col-
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