USA > Illinois > Kane County > History of Kane County, Ill. Volume II > Part 11
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stantly seeking new plans and methods whereby he may advance the interests of the schools and promote their efficiency as a preparation for life's practical and responsible duties. Professor White has served both as conductor and instructor in teachers' institutes and is constantly striving to inspire fellow teachers and pupils with his own zeal for and intense interest in his work.
Professor White was united in marriage to Miss Fannie Goodenow. whose acquaintance he formed while she was a student of music in Albion College while he was there pursuing his classical course. They have one daughter, Alice Irene. now nine years of age. Professor White is a Mason and Methodist-associations which indicate much of his nature and the char- acter of his interests. He is rapidly becoming widely known in professional circles, nor is he without more than local fame as a public speaker.
HUGO CARL KRENGEL.
Hugo Carl Krengel is numbered among those whom death has called from Kane county but who in his life was a respected and capable representa- tive of industrial interests, being an expert machinist and foreman for the Elgin National Watch Company. A native of Germany, he was born near Cologne on the river Rhine, on the 29th of March, 1857, and died on the Ioth of February, 1905. He was brought to the United States at the age of seven years by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. William Frederick Krengel. The father was a soldier of the Civil war, espousing the cause of his country when the Union was threatened. He enlisted from New York soon after the outbreak of hostilities between the north and the south and continued all through the war until victory perched upon the Union banners. His wife bore the maiden name of Julia Ollager.
Soon after the close of the war the parents removed with their family to Bridgeport, Connecticut, and Hugo Carl Krengel, then a young lad, pursued his education in the public schools of that state. In 1872, when a youth of fifteen, he accompanied his parents to New Haven. He entered upon his business career at Bridgeport, Connecticut, being first employed by the Wheeler & Wilson Company at that place. He afterward entered the service of the Martin Arms Company at New Haven, where he learned the machinist's trade. In 1879 he went to Cleveland, Ohio, where he was employed by the Brush Electric Company, but thinking that the west furnished better business opportunities, he made his way to Illinois, arriving in Elgin in August, 1881. Here he became connected with the Elgin National Watch Company and that he was retained in their service from that time until his death is an indication of the trust reposed in him and of his fidelity to duty, which was numbered among his salient characteristics. In 1885 he was transferred to the escape- ment department and was assistant foreman in 1890. In May of the follow- ing year he was made foreman and so continued until his death, or for a period of about fourteen years. From the time he started out in the business world he had made constant progress in that efficiency which in time gained
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him recognition as an expert machinist. He was with the company altogether for twenty-two years and served them so faithfully and well that uniform regret was felt on the part of employers and those who served under him when he was no longer able to fill his place in the factory.
On the 2d of October, 1889, Mr. Krengel was united in marriage to Miss Mary Elizabeth Hubner, a daughter of Henry and Margaret (Hoereth) Hubner, of Elgin. They became the parents of a son and daughter: Irving Hubner, who is now a senior in the high school at Elgin; and Marion Mar- guerite, who is a member of the freshman class in the high school.
Mr. Krengel gave his political allegiance to the republican party. He was a member of the Century Club, a social organization of Elgin, but he preferred home associations to club life. He attended the Congregational church and stood high among his associates, enjoying to the fullest extent the good will and trust of those whom he met day after day and who knew his life to be most upright and honorable in its varied relations.
GEORGE S. CHISHOLM.
George S. Chisholm, formerly identified with Elgin mercantile interests, is now numbered among the capitalists and is deriving his income largely from mining property, having extensive and profitable investments in Utah and the west. He was born in Menominee, Wisconsin, February 13, 1845, a son of Robert Bruce and Sarah (Vanvalkenburgh) Chisholm. The father's birth occurred near Kettle Creek, New York, in 1812, and he died at Oak- land, California, when seventy-five years of age. His remains, however, were brought back to Elgin for interment. His wife passed away at the age of fifty-two years.
The life record of Robert Bruce was eventful in many ways. When a boy he went with his parents to St. Thomas, Ontario, where he was reared, and in London, Ontario, he was married, his wife being a native of that place. They afterward removed to Wisconsin, where he was identified with lead mining interests, and later went to Minnesota. There he purchased seven hundred acres of farm land, which he eventually sold prior to his removal to Elgin. It was about 1855 that he went with his family to Winona, Minne- sota, and in 1866 he came to this city, settling on a farm about a mile south of Elgin, where now stands the state insane asylum. Later he went to Mis- souri with Captain Day and worked in the lead and zinc mines, and subse- quently went to Salt Lake City and were the discoverers of the Emma mine. The first ore taken from that mine was shipped to England, being sent as ballast. After the mine was well developed they became involved in a law suit over it with a man that had staked and abandoned it. Edward Joslyn, a lawyer of Elgin, then went to Salt Lake City to act as defense in the case and Mr. Chisholm of this review speaks of his address as the greatest piece of oratory he ever heard. The mine was named in honor of a sister of our subject. It produced gold and silver, although the latter predominated. It
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has proved one of the best mines in the Little Cottonwood district, about twenty-seven miles southeast of Salt Lake City in the midst of the mountains. Mr. Chisholm worked the mine with the proceeds which he had received from the farm. At length the property was sold to Park & Baxter, of New York city. The original owners were Mr. Chisholm, Captain J. M. Day, J. F. Woodman and Captain J. Smith, and when the mine was sold Mr. Chisholm received about five hundred thousand dollars. The firm of Park & Baxter afterward disposed of the mine to English capitalists for eleven million dollars. It was then left to lie idle a time but it is now being worked and is proving more profitable than before.
In the family of Robert Bruce and Sarah Chisholm there were five children : William Wallace, a miner now of Salt Lake City; Oliver Perry. who is connected with mining interests at Bozeman. Montana ; George S., of this review; Robert B., of Los Angeles, California, with whom his brother George is interested in the ownership of twelve mining claims; and Emma. the widow of George H. Bennett. of Geneva. Illinois.
George S. Chisholm was about ten years of age when he accompanied his parents on their removal to Winona, Minnesota, and was a young man of twenty-one when he arrived in Elgin, the family locating upon a farm about a mile south of the city. He continued upon this place with his parents until the farm was sold to the state for seventy-five dollars per acre. With the proceeds of the farm the father, as previously stated, went to Salt Lake City and invested in what was called the Emma mine. While the father was identified with its development George S. Chisholm made various trips back and forth between the two places but maintained his residence in Elgin. At Lisle, Illinois, and a daughter of James and Charlotte Hatch. She has an one time he was proprietor of a grocery store in the Home Bank building. conducting it for six or seven years. He is now interested in mines in Utah and, while practically living retired from active business, still gives his super- vision to his investments. His affairs have been capably managed and in his investments he has met with a goodly measure of prosperity. He holds valuable mining stock and derives therefrom a gratifying annual income.
In 1875 Mr. Chisholm was married to Miss Angie K. Hatch, a native of uncle. Rev. Reuben A. Hatch, who is a professor at Oberlin (Ohio) College and who at the age of ninety-five years is preparing a history of the Hatch family. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Chisholm have been born five children : Marie Louise, the wife of Leonard Hawkins, a hardware merchant of Elgin; AArchi- bald S., of this city; Harold James, at home; William Wallace : and George . Stewart.
Mr. Chisholm manifests only a citizen's interests in politics, having never been an office seeker. Hle voted for Lincoln, Grant and Garfield and in more recent elections has supported Bryan. Fraternally he is connected with the Knights of Pythias and the Masons and has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite in the Chicago Consistory and is also a member of Medina Temple of the Mystic Shrine. With his family he occupies a nice home at No. 306 North Spring street, where he has resided for a quarter of a century. Forty-two years have passed since he became a resident of Elgin and through-
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out this period the circle of his acquaintance has steadily widened and the circle of his friends has correspondingly increased, for his many sterling traits of character have gained him the confidence and good will of those with whom he has been associated.
HARRY E. STEPHENS.
New conditions of life are continually producing new fields of labor and the capable man is he who sees and utilizes his opportunity. In recent years the public amusement park has become a feature of every city of any size and Mr. Stephens is meeting a demand for public entertainment in the manufac- ture of miniature railway trains under the name of the International Miniature Railway Company at Elgin. He began this business on a small scale but under his capable control it has rapidly grown to large proportions and he is now sole proprietor.
He was born in Ithaca, New York, November 4. 1863. his parents being Henry W. and Julia A. (Carey) Stephens. His father was division super- intendent of the Lackawanna Railroad for a number of years and also capably filled the positions of city treasurer and collector at Ithaca for a number of terms. He became there a man of considerable local prominence and after long association with railroad interests is now living retired.
From early boyhood the talk of the railroad in its complex interests was more or less familiar to Harry E. Stephens and yet in his early manhood he had no idea that such interests should eventually lead him to a successful business career. He was reared and educated in Ithaca and there learned the machinist's trade with Reynolds & Lang. On leaving the employ of that February, 1887, came to Elgin, Illinois, where he worked in the machine firm he removed westward to Peru, Indiana, to work at his trade, and in department of the Elgin National Watch Company for nine years. His long service was indicative of his capability and faithfulness and when he left that company he was employed in all the eastern factories engaged in the manu- facture of watches. At length, however, he returned to Elgin and was again for two years with the Elgin Watch Company. It was during this period that he built his first miniature locomotive, which he constructed in his dining room at home after the work of the day was over. This engine he put in the White City Amusement Park of Chicago, November 22. 1904, and it proved so successful that in the fall of the same year he formed a partnership with Ashley J. Abel, established a shop and began the manufacture of min- iature engines. The business, however, was established on a small scale and continued under the firm style of Abel & Stephens until January I. 1908, when Mr. Stephens purchased his partner's interest and has since conducted the business alone. To the present time he has built twenty-one of these engines, which have been sold throughout the country to different amusement parks. They are the most perfect that can be built in every particular, con- structed of the very best material and workmanship and are of six horse
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power. The company also manufactures the cars, which will hold four people, and each engine can haul six cars. Mr. Stephens now has a large factory, employing a number of mechanics and other workmen, and has a number of concessions himself. There is but one other concern in the United States that builds these engines-Cagney Brothers of New York city-but their engines are rapidly being replaced by those of Mr. Stephens' manufac- ture, which have proven much better and more satisfactory.
On Christmas day of 1903 was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Stephens and Miss Ella Schoonhoven, of Elgin. They are both well known in this city and have an extensive circle of friends. Mr. Stephens' fellow townsmen rejoice in his success. knowing that it has been worthily won and is well merited. Ile started in business on borrowed capital but today has over sixteen thousand dollars invested in his business and his patronage is steadily increasing and he will no doubt in time control the trade in his line in the country.
EDWARD S. ENO.
No history of Elgin would be complete without extensive mention of Edward S. Eno. He has been the prime mover in the development and up- building of the great Borden milk industry, not only of this city, but of the state as well. Nor is he known alone for his activity and success in this undertaking. He is also a prominent factor in affairs of public moment which have had direct bearing upon the welfare of the city.
He was born in Honesdale, Wayne county, Pennsylvania, May 26, 1848, and there resided until he had attained his majority, spending his boyhood days in the home of his parents, Daniel Mills and Eunice (Sage) Eno, who were natives of Connecticut, and were reared and married there. They afterward removed to Pennsylvania and spent their remaining days upon the home farm in Wayne county. The father reached the age of nearly four score years, while the mother attained the very venerable old age of ninety years. They were the parents of ten children. four sons and six daughters, of whom two died in infancy, while eight are now living.
During the period of his boyhood and youth Edward S. Eno engaged in farming and also attended school, supplementing his district-school course by study through two winters in a normal school. He entered upon his business career as a clerk in a hardware store in Honesdale, where he remained for fif- teen months and later removed to Brewster, New York, where he entered the employ of the Borden Condensed Milk Company, on the 20th of No- vember, 1870. That was his initial step in a business career, which has led him into a position of large responsibility in the conduct of an enterprise that is proving not only a source of individual success but also of benefit to the community. He continued at Brewster until July 4, 1871, beginning at that place as a general laborer. On the date mentioned he came to Elgin and here took up the work of operator or condenser, which he learned under the
EDWARD S. ENO
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personal instruction of the late Gail Borden, the originator and founder of the business. He acted in that capacity until 1882, when he became superintendent of the Elgin factory, which at that time was the only Borden factory in the west. He has been in charge continuously since, covering a period of twenty- six years, and the growth. and extension of the business is indicated by the fact that when he arrived the factory handled about sixteen thousand pounds of milk per day, while at a subsequent period it has handled as high as one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, an increase of almost tenfold. All of the buildings which now constitute the plant were remodeled and built under his personal supervision. No man in Illinois has had more to do with the development of the milk industry than has Edward S. Eno. He has had much to do with aiding the farmers concerning sanitary conditions in connection with the care of milk and his record is one which indeed reflects credit upon him. In 1892 he put up the first bottle of milk with his own hands for the Chicago market. The first shipment was four cases of twenty-four bottles each. At the present time the business has grown to such proportions that twenty carloads are shipped daily. Mr. Eno has had much to do with the general supervision of the building and planning of most of the Gail Borden plants in the west, sixteen in number, and, in fact, has been the promoter of the business throughout this section of the country to a large extent. The enterprise in Elgin is one of its most important industrial and productive concerns and the success of the business is attributable in very large measure to the sound business judgment, thorough understanding and unfaltering dili- gence of the present manager.
In 1873 Mr. Eno was married to Miss Helen Conyne, who was born in Wayne county, Pennsylvania, a daughter of Alexander and Laura Conyne. Their children were Charles Herbert, Laura and Alfred, but the first named died in infancy. Having lost his first wife, Mr. Eno was again married, his second union being with Nellie W. Joslyn, a native of Rockton, Winnebago county, Illinois, and a daughter of A. C. Joslyn.
In politics Mr. Eno has been a life-long republican. He has been promi- nent in public interests and community affairs in many ways and his aid and influence are regarded as a valuable asset in matters relating to the public good. He became captain of the Gail Borden Hose Company, a volunteer fire company, and served for eight years, holding the rank of assistant fire marshal when he finally severed his connection with the company. He became a member of this organization three years after his arrival in Elgin. He also filled the office of alderman for one term of two years and during the second year was chairman of the finance committee, a member of the police commis- sion and chairman of the special committee appointed by Mayor Willis, in which connection he did preliminary work for the present city water works. There has been a still more notable feature of his public service in that he was one of those to recommend the appointment of a water commission, which is now in existence. Later he became one of the members of the commission and served for eight years. He has every reason to be proud of what he did as a member of the water commission in its development to its present system of perfection and in this connection he has labored earnestly and effectively
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in keeping it out of the franchise system. Mr. Eno has also been a member of the board of education, serving for one term, and for three or four years he has been a member of the police commission. He then resigned and was appointed by Governor Yates the resident trustee of the State Insane Asylum, in which capacity he served for about three years. He is, moreover, a business man of marked energy and determination and the extensive industry which he now controls at Elgin and which ranks second to none in the United States is as a monument to his ability, energy and foresight.
EARL COOLEY NEWTON.
The life of Earl Cooley Newton, now deceased, was one of distinct value to his fellowmen in that, through the exercise of his powers and talents, he gave to the world certain manufactures of his own inventions which have been of distinct use to those who have employed them. Mr. Newton was born October 24, 1838, in Wyoming county, New York. His parents were Levi and Rachel (Cooley) Newton and while spending his boyhood days in their home he pursued his education in the public schools of the Empire state.
In early life he learned the wagon manufacturing business and in 1854, when a youth of sixteen years, he came west with his parents and settled in Batavia. He was a partner in the Newton Wagon Company with his brother. becoming vice president of the company and so continuing up to the time of his death. A man of resourceful business ability, he did not limit his efforts to one line but extended them in other directions and became recognized as a man of force of character and strong purpose, whose labors were directly beneficial in the business development and upbuilding of his community. He was a director in the First National Bank of Batavia and was also extensively interested in the Redwood Lumber Company of California. In addition to the conduct of the wagon manufactory he also manufactured the new cow tie for tying cows in stalls. This is a great improvement on the old stanchions and is much more humane to the cattle. This device is still being manufactured by the family at their country home in Batavia.
On the 31st of January, 1871. Mr. Newton was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. Wilson, a daughter of Samuel and Lydia (Shaw) Wilson, of Batavia. They became the parents of six children. Ed E. married Flora Peckham, who died leaving two children, Earl J. and Florence May. Follow- ing her demise Ed E. Newton wedded Nettie Wilkinson and with their son. LeRoy, they make their home in South Dakota. William W. Newton, the second son, now living in St. Joseph, Missouri, is married and has one daugh- ter, Lou. Harry E. is married and has two children, Mary E. and Fay A. Nellie L. is the wife of William N. Selfridge, of Batavia. Katie May, born March 14, 1882, died June 13, 1895. Essie E., born March 17. 1885, died on the 13th of July of the same year.
Mr. Newton was a stanch republican in his political views but the honors and emoluments of office had no attraction for him. He did not desire a
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reward for his party fealty but gave his allegiance to the republican principles because of a patriotic desire to conserve the best interests of the country. He was a most generous man, kindly in spirit but of quiet disposition. His sterling traits of character, however, won him wide respect and made him liked wherever he was known.
JOHN SEIDEL.
John Seidel, now deriving his income from judicious investments, is one of Elgin's native sons, who has led a life of activity and enterprise and has thereby won creditable prosperity. He was born on the Ist of March, 1860, his parents being Charles and Caroline (Luther) Seidel.
The mother was the last descendant of Martin Luther to bear the family name. Her birth occurred in 1823 at Kennitz, near Berlin, Germany, while Charles Seidel was born at Kolditz, in the province of Prussia. They were reared and married in their native country and came to America in 1849. After spending two years in Chicago they removed to Elgin in 1851 and Mr. Seidel established a bakery where the Seidel block now stands. It was the first business undertaking of this character in Elgin. He also handled the first lime sold here, conducting a good business as a dealer in that com- modity, while at the same time he won success in his bakery business, which he conducted until the time of the Civil war, when he rented his place. He had in the meantime secured considerable real estate, making invstments at an early day, and it still forms a part of the Seidel estate. As the years have passed it has greatly appreciated in value and the property today bears an excellent income.
In his political views Mr. Seidel was a stanch republican and in matters of citizenship was progressive and enterprising. He died in February, 1872. his wife surviving him only until September of the same year. They were the parents of twelve children: Charles, who served in the Civil war as a member of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry and died at the age of nineteen years while at the front; Emma, who has passed away; Fred, also deceased; Mary, who makes her home with her brother John; Newton, deceased; Natalie, the wife of William Wilson, of Elgin; William and Robert, both of whom have departed this life; John, of this review; Frank, deceased; Charles; and Robert, who died in infancy. The family possess the love of music and also the musical talent so common to the German race and Fred, Newton, Frank and William have all been men- bers of the Elgin band. One of the sons, Robert Seidel, was a very promi- nent citizen of Elgin, who served as alderman for many years and left the impress of his individuality upon the upbuilding and progress of the city in many ways. In business he was connected with the furniture trade and undertaking and became prominent as a merchant as well as a political leader of the city.
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