USA > Illinois > Kane County > History of Kane County, Ill. Volume II > Part 16
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horses and has built up a good business in both lines. He is known as one thoroughly reliable in all his trade transactions, and his earnest desire to please those who come to him has secured him a liberal and growing patronage.
On the 27th of September, 1882, Mr. Webster was married to Miss Marian W. Conkling, of St. Charles, Illinois. Fraternally he is connected with the blue lodge, chapter and commandery in Masonry and he also belongs to the Modern Woodmen. His political allegiance is given to the republican party, and he has been three times elected to represent the fourth ward in the city council, thus serving for six years. He has exercised his official pre- rogatives in support of progressive, public measures, his labors proving an ele- ment in municipal advancement. He is interested in all those things which are a matter of civic virtue and civic pride, and is a worthy representative of a prominent old pioneer family.
HON. JOHN A. LOGAN.
Hon. John A. Logan, among the native sons of Elgin, whom the city has honored because of the public recognition of his worth, has left the impress of his individuality, both upon business and political circles. Native sagacity, far-seeing judgment and indefatigable energy have so entered into his makeup as to render him a natural leader of thought and a molder of public opinion.
He was born in Elgin, August 9, 1861, a son of John and Julia (Murphy) Logan. The father was born in County Galway, Ireland, January 24. 1820, and died in this city March 16, 1866. His wife was a native of Cork, and passed away in Elgin, January 20, 1874, at the age of forty-three years. They were married in Machias, Washington county, Maine, about 1848, and three of their children, Mary, Nellie and Julia, were born in Maine, while the younger members of the family. Thomas J .. John A. and Margaret, were all born in Elgin. The subject of this review, however, is the only one now living. The family located in Elgin about 1855, and the father worked in the distillery here for Pease, Lawrence & Maloney. His father, Owen Logan, was born in County Galway, Ireland, June 24, 1790, and died in Elgin, February 22, 1873. In his native land he had engaged in school teaching.
At the usual age John A. Logan became a pupil in the public schools of this city but his opportunities were limited, owing to the fact that his father's financial circumstances did not permit of any luxuries and com- paratively few of the comforts of life in the home. He died, too, when his son was but a small boy, and the mother passed away a few years later. As it was necessary for John A. Logan to provide for his own support he began working in the brickyards near the Fox river switch, being there employed for two years. He afterward became a brakeman on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and in due time, in recognition of his ability and faith- fulness, was made a conductor. He was also in charge of the yards in this city and eventually became a passenger conductor, which position he resigned
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to engage in the real-estate business. He gave his attention alternately to business pursuits and official service for a considerable period. He was appointed deputy sheriff in 1888, filling the office until 1891, when he resigned.
In 1894 he was appointed United States deputy marshal and served for four years or during President Cleveland's second administration, for the northern district of Illinois. During that time he fully demonstrated his abilities as an officer and won distinction during the great strike at Chicago, being severely wounded in a desperate encounter with the rioters. While in that city, in his official capacity, he arrested Eugene V. Debs and his fol- lowers, who were causing so much of the disturbance. Soon after the expira- tion of his term as United States deputy marshal he was appointed chief of police of Elgin and remamed as the leading executive officer in that depart- ment of the public service, proving most efficient. He was appointed by the mayor and again, by his capability and fidelity, showed that the trust reposed in him was well merited. In 1900 he was elected a member of the state legislature, succeeding Hon. Samuel Alschuler.
In the fall of 1901 he resigned as chief of police and organized the Northern Lakes Ice Company, of which he became the president and man- ager. In this connection he has established and erected immense ice houses at Pistaqua Bay, where he also has a pleasant summer home. He is vice president of the Walworth Condensed Milk Company, and was engaged in the wholesale ice and ice cream business in Chicago until 1905, when he sold out to the Knickerbocker Ice Company. In 1906 he incorporated the Elgin National Brewing Company; of which he was director and secretary until the Ist of January, 1908, when he resigned. He is now engaged in the sewer and street contracting business, and in this connection is securing a large patronage. Whether in business circles or in political office Mr. Logan has always been deeply interested in everything pertaining to the public welfare and has labored for those measures and movements which have proven of general good. He was but twenty-three years of age when he was elected alderman and for nine years served as a member of the city council. In all of his public life he has placed the general welfare before partisanship and has made personal aggrandizement subservient to the advancement of the public good. He is, however, a stanch advocate of democratic principles and for fifteen years has been chairman of the town democratic committee. At the present writing he is a member of the senatorial committee, with which he has been associated for ten or twelve years. Recently he was elcted to succeed the Hon. D. J. Hogan as a member of the democratic state central committee for the eleventh congressional district. He has also been president of the civil service commission of Elgin.
Mr. Logan married Miss Mary A. Althen, a daughter of the late Casper Althen, one of the most prominent German-American citizens of Elgin. They have two children, John and Margaret. Mr. Logan is well known in fra- ternal circles, belonging to Elgin lodge, A. F. & A. M., to Oriental con- sistory, S. P. R. S., and to Medina Temple, A. A. O. N. M. S., of Chicago. He likewise is connected with Lochiel lodge, K. P., and the Benevolent & Protective Order of Elks, while of the Hillside Club at Pistaqua Bay he has
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been president. When we recognize the fact that he started out in life empty- handed, with no special advantages in his youth. and note the place of dis- tinction to which he has attained, it seems that he has reached it by leaps and bounds, and his life record proves that positions of public honor are reached through the highway of public usefulness. Character growth and the development of his latent powers and energies have placed him where he stands today, among the most successful and best known residents of Elgin. He early learned to value people and opportunities at their true worth and to correctly judge life's contact and experiences, and thus with no untried standards and no false promises he has worked his way upward until he has gained success in business and also been accorded high honors by his fellowmen.
ALEXANDER C. LITTLE.
Alexander C. Little, an attorney of Aurora, was born at Rome. Oneida county, New York, in 1836, his parents being John and Nancy ( Rae) Little. who were natives of Dumfriesshire, Scotland, and relatives of Thomas Car- lyle and Edward Irving. They came to the United States in the '30s. settling in Oneida county, New York, where the father engaged in farming. He remained a resident of the Empire state for many years and then, in 1851. came to Kane county, Illinois, where he carried on general agricultural pur- suits up to the time of his death, which occurred at Big Rock. in this county. in 1860. He was a Presbyterian in religious faith and a republican in his political belief, becoming connected with the party upon its organization. His wife, long surviving him, passed away in 1879.
Alexander C. Little, having pursued a public-school course of study. afterward began preparation for the practice of medicine at the age of eigh- teen years under the direction of Dr. W. Danforth. of Joliet. Later he was graduated from the medical department of the Iowa College at Keokuk in 1858, and during the year prior to his graduation he practiced in partnership with his former preceptor. Dr. Danforth. On the completion of his medical course he attended the seminary at Aurora until 1862, wishing for a broader general knowledge to serve as the foundation for his professional advance- ment. In July of the latter year, however, he put aside all business and personal considerations and enlisted for service in the Union army. He organized a company but, as there was no need for it at that time, it was not mustered in and disbanded. With fifteen of his men, Mr. Little then went to Plano, where he enlisted as a member of Company K of the One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry. His first service was at Camp Douglas, where he was appointed orderly sergeant, and in November the regiment was ordered to Memphis, Tennessee, and assigned to General Sherman's division, with which Mr. Little was connected until the close of the war. From Memphis he went on the Chickasaw Bayou expedition and took part in the battle in December. He was afterward with his command at Arkansas Post, participating in the engagements at that place, where five
A. C. LITTLE
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thousand Confederate troops were made prisoners. Later Mr. Little went to Vicksburg and was under command of General Grant at Young's Point, serving in that vicinity until the surrender of the city. While at Young's Point in March, 1863, he was appointed captain. After the fall of Vicks- burg he was ordered to Chattanooga and served through that campaign. When relieved at that point he went with his company to Knoxville and relieved Burnside and afterward returned to Larkinsville, where General Sherman was organizing his Georgia campaign. At the battle of Kenesaw Mountain he was in command of the regiment, owing to the illness of the colonel and the withdrawal of the major, being appointed to the command by General Giles A. Smith. He was ever in the hottest of the fight and so marshaled his troops and planned their movements that he was complimented the next day by the General for his gallantry. He served through the Georgia campaign until the fall of Atlanta and in the engagement on August 3, 1864, he was wounded while commanding the left wing of the regiment. He then went to the north but later was sent to Chattanooga, where he was ordered to organize from the detachment of the Fifteenth Army Corps a command to go to the relief of General Ammen at Knoxville. His command consisted of six hundred men and after performing the duty designated he returned to Loudon, Tennessee, and took charge there, guarding the bridge. He was afterward at Cleveland, Tennessee, where he was assigned to duty on the staff of General Boughton, with whom he remained until ordered to rejoin his regiment. At Goldsboro, North Carolina, he was aide-de-camp on the staff of General Boughton and after arriving at Goldsboro the provisional division was discharged and Captain Little was assigned to the Second Mis- souri Engineer Corps of the Army of the Tennessee. He served in that position until his arrival in Washington, when he was mustered out on the 5th of June, 1865. The foregoing record will indicate the valuable character of his service and his unfaltering loyalty to duty. He proved a gallant soldier and officer, inspiring his men by his own valor and loyalty and his record was altogether a most creditable one. When the country no longer needed his military aid Captain Little returned to Aurora and entered Antioch College to review his studies, becoming a member of the senior class. In Aurora he took up the study of law under the direction of the Hon. Charles Wheaton and was admitted to the bar in 1867, since which time he has engaged contin- uously in practice. While advancement in the law is proverbially slow, he yet, year after year, made steady progress toward that success which forms the goal of all the hopes of the ambitious lawyer. His first partner was the Hon. B. F. Parks, with whom he was connected in 1873-74. He was afterward associated with L. Isham White for a year and five years later took in as a partner, George W. Avery. He subsequently practiced in partnership with Ira Smith but for a number of years has been alone. He is watchful of all the details of his cases and yet never for a moment loses sight of the important point upon which the decision of a case always turns. He never neglects the work of the office which must always precede the forceful presentation of a cause in the courts and is regarded as a most faithful minister in the temple of justice.
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Mr. Little is also well known in connection with political interests and public service in the city. He is a stalwart republican, recognized as one of the valuable members of the party and has filled many offices, in which his loyalty to the trust reposed in him has ever been above question. In 1869 he was alderman of the Eleventh ward and in 1874 he was elected mayor. During his term in that office he organized the public library, which is a most valuable institution of the city. He has served as city attorney both before and since his administration as mayor and in all his varied relations to the public, whether as an officer or as a private citizen, he has contributed to general progress and substantial upbuilding.
Mr. Little was married January 18. 1877. to Miss Bonnie B. Snow, a daughter of Professor Snow, a native of Massachusetts. She died November 30, 1903. Mr. Little is prominent socially and is a valued member of the Grand Army post. Throughout his entire life he has been as loyal in citizen- ship in days of peace as when he followed the old flag upon southern battle- fields. His fidelity to duty is one of his strong characteristics whether manifest in the public service, in his social relations or in his professional connections.
ALFRED E. PLEAVIN. M.D.
Dr. Alfred E. Pleavin, engaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Elgin, was born in Birkenhead. England. in March, 1880. His father. Dr. Alfred Pleavin, was graduated from the Buffalo (N. Y.) University in that year and, returning to England. located at Birkenhead, where he has since remained as an active representative of his profession.
His son. Dr. Alfred E. Pleavin, was reared at Birkenhead and pursued his education in the schools of Liverpool and Edinburgh, Scotland. He is a graduate of Middleton College at New Brighton on the west coast of England and also holds a classical certificate from the Royal College of Preceptors of London. He made three flying visits to AAmerica before coming here to locate. Attracted by the opportunities of the new world. he crossed the Atlantic in 1901 to become a permanent resident of the United States and. having determined to make the practice of medicine and surgery his life work, he entered the Bennett Medical College of Chicago, from which he was graduated in 1905. He then returned to Europe and practiced in his home town for four months, after which he again came to the United States and located at No. 109 Walnut avenue in Elgin. He is the only physician on the west side of the river and has built up a very lucrative and extensive practice. He is now serving on the staff of the Sherman Hospital and is physician and surgeon for the Sons of St. George and .for the Owls. He is likewise local medical examiner for the Yeomen of America.
In 1903 Dr. Pleavin was married to Miss Katharine James, a native of Manchester, England, who with her husband is also a practicing physician. She, too, is a graduate of the Bennett Medical College, completing the course in 1906. In early life she attended school in Manchester, England, and
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engaged in teaching at Keighley, that country. Since 1899 she has been a resident of America, in which year she located in Chicago and since her graduation she has been in active practice. Both husband and wife are able physicians and the labors and successes of each are augmented by the fact that they have the benefit of the other's experience in consultation. They hold membership with the Episcopal church and are winning many friends in social as well as in professional circles.
R. W. THORNTON.
R. W. Thornton, the only broker of Elgin, is conducting a good busi- ness, and is thoroughly informed concerning the value of stocks, bonds and other investments. He was born in Carlinville. Illinois, May 5, 1868, and the public schools afforded him his early educational privileges, which were supplemented by study in Western Normal College at Bushnell, Illinois. For five years he engaged in teaching school, and in 1892 came to Elgin, where for twelve years he was connected with the Elgin National Watch Company, being the first automatic operator in the factory. In 1903, however, he embarked in business on his own account as a stock and investment broker and has since continued in this line, having offices in the Sherwin block. He enjoys the distinction of being the only broker in Elgin and he is a corre- spondent of operators in Chicago. New York and Boston, to which cities he has private telegraph wires. He conducts a general brokerage business and keeping thoroughly in touch with the market is enabled to make judicious investments for his patrons and win success for himself through the careful conduct of his interests.
In 1892 Mr. Thornton was married to Miss Ida F. Anderson, a native of Girard, Illinois, and they have one daughter, Doris, who was born in 1898. They are well known in social circles in the community and the hospitality of the best homes is extended them.
JACOB B. COVEY.
Jacob B. Covey, who was for many years prominently connected with the building interests of Elgin as senior member of the firm of Covey & Sons. was born in Coxsackie, Greene county, New York, August 27, 1836. He accompanied his parents, Ebenezer W. and Mary (Bush) Covey, on their removal westward in 1848, the family home being established on a farm in Palatine township, Cook county, Illinois, where the father resided until his death, in 1861, when he had attained the age of fifty-two years. His wife, long surviving him, passed away in Elgin in 1905, being at that time ninety- one years of age.
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Jacob B. Covey spent part of his young life on a farm in Barrington Center. Cook county, when he made his way to Elgin in 1882, here he became connected with the contracting and building business under the firm style of Covey & Sons. He was connected with this line of activity until his death, which occurred October 14, 1906, and many of the substantial struc- tures of Elgin stand as monuments to his architectural skill and ability, the concern of which he was a member, being principally engaged in the building of residences.
On the 2d of May, 1860, Mr. Covey was united in marriage to Miss Caroline E. Sabin, a daughter of Sylvester R. and Phoebe (Clapp) Sabin, by whom he had three children. Herbert E. wedded Miss Emma Parks, of Pennsylvania, and has four children : Lucile. Roy James, Helen and Herbert Jacob. Merrills E. married Miss Jennie Townsend, by whom he has one child, Howard Townsend. Minnie E. is a widow and has two children, Ray Schoonhoven and Ethel Irene Parks. Mrs. Covey had three brothers who lost their lives in the Civil war while defending the interests of the Union. She passed away November 27, 1907, at Santa Ana, California, where she and her daughter, Mrs. Parks, were spending the winter.
In his political views Mr. Covey was a stanch republican, and served as school director for more than twenty years, the cause of education finding in him a stalwart champion. While residing in Barrington, Cook county, he also acted as constable. Both he and his wife were connected with the Methodist Episcopal church from early manhood and womanhood, and he served as one of its stewards. He was widely recognized as a prominent and successful business man of Elgin, and as a public-spirited citizen who gave liberally of his time and means to every movement or measure instituted for the general welfare of the city.
JOHN REED.
John Reed, who carries on general farming in Batavia township, where he is known and respected as one of the leading and enterprising agriculturists, is a native of the state of New York, his birth having occurred at Glens Falls, Warren county, March 26, 1840. Ilis father. Patrick Reed, was a native of Ireland and when he had arrived at years of maturity he wedded Mary Kelley. who was also born on the Emerald Isle. They came to the United States at an early day, probably about 1835, and settled in New York, making their home at Glens Falls. The father followed the mason's trade.
Reared in his parents' home, John Reed acquired his education in the public schools and carly became familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. On starting out in life on his own account he followed farming and was thus engaged until he came to the west in 1884. He believed that he would have better opportunities to secure land at a reason- able price in this section of the country and also justly regarded the land as a better value than that in the east because of its productive qualities. He
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purchased a tract two and a half miles west of Batavia, securing thirty acres of fine land. In the intervening years he has since carried on general farming and his labors have been attended with a measure of success that is most gratifying.
About forty-five years ago Mr. Reed was united in marriage to Miss Mariette Williams, of Glens Falls, New York. Their children are three in number. Emma is the wife of Sidney Masters and has two children. May, who was born in April, 1873, and died in August, 1904, was the wife of John Macumber and left two children. Hattie Bell is the wife of William Wilson and has four children. In his political views Mr. Reed is a republican, having continuously supported the party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. He has now lived in this county for thirty-six years and is well known to many of its citizens, especially in Batavia township and this locality. His fellow townsmen have recognized that his rules of life are such as have their foundation in strict and unswerving integrity, indefatigable energy and laudable purpose. He has met with success in his farming operations and well deserves the prosperity that has come to him.
MILTON J. BEVERLY.
The fact that Geneva is the seat of justice for Kane county calls to this city many substantial and representative men, and Mr. Beverly belongs to that class who in the faithful discharge of official duties is making a creditable and commendable record. He resides at Maple Park, Illinois, where his birth occurred December 1I, 1874. He is a son of Albert and Leannah ( Ben- nett) Beverly. The father was born in Oneida county, New York, March 12, 1825. and his father, also a native of the Empire state, was a farmer by occupation and lived near Jamestown, Oneida county, where his death occurred at the venerable age of eighty-three years. His wife also survived to an old age, and they reared a large family, but only one is now living. The maternal grandfather of our subject was Jacob Bennett, a native of Ohio, who lived near Akron, Ohio, and whose wife bore the name of Sarah.
Albert Beverly followed farming during the greater part of his active life and following his removal from the east came to Illinois in 1843. Here he worked as a farm hand by the month for a short period, after which he returned to the Empire state. Subsequently he spent one winter in the pineries of Wisconsin, and in 1845 again came to Kane county, settling in Virgil township, where he purchased and improved a farm, there carrying on general agricultural pursuits for many years. He is now the owner of two hundred and ten acres of rich and productive land, but lives retired in Maple Park, now spending his days in well earned ease. He has always been gen- erous with his children, yet has succeeded in accumulating a competency for old age. At the same time he is recognized as a public-spirited man, who has contributed freely to the support of many enterprises of benefit to his com- munity. He is well known and highly respected, his record winning for him
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the confidence and trust of those with whom he has come in contact. For sixteen years he served as township assessor. his long connection with the office indicating his capable discharge of duty. Albert Beverly has been mar- ried three times. He first wedded Mary Jenkins, who died a few months later. His second union was with Mary Smith and they had three children : John A., a resident of Chicago; Carrie, the wife of Frank B. Wilkinson, of Chemung, Illinois; and Walter, who died in 1902. His wife had passed away previously and they left one son, Arthur Lee. For his third wife Albert Beverly chose Leannah Bennett, a native of Ohio, and they became the parents of six children, three of whom survive: Hattie E., now the wife of Ernest L. Fowler, of West Chicago; Milton J., who is living at Maple Park; and Mercedes, the wife of Harry Kenyon, of Maple Park.
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