USA > Illinois > Kane County > History of Kane County, Ill. Volume II > Part 55
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E. H. ABBOTT, M.D.
In a profession where advancement depends entirely upon individual merit Dr. E. H. Abbott is making consecutive progress, and the liberal patronage accorded him is indicative of the confidence reposed in him by the general public. A resident of Elgin, he was here born on the 6th of November, 1866, and through the period of his boyhood attended the public schools, while during the vacations he worked in the Elgin watch factory, beginning there when about ten years of age, at which time he was the youngest employe of the company. Before he reached his fifteenth year he left the high school to take his father's place in the factory. His determination to secure an education, however, led him to devote his evenings to study, and he not only completed the high-school course, but also pursued several addi- tional branches. Throughout his entire life he has remained a student, constantly broadening his knowledge in general as well as professional lines. In the meantime he acted as correspondent for the Elgin Every Saturday, a society and local paper, but having determined to engage in the practice of medicine and surgery as a life work, he labored toward this end and in the spring of 1892 entered the Rush Medical College of Chicago, from which he received his degree in 1895. Dr. Abbott then located for practice in his native city and the subsequent years have proven that his choice of a profession was a wise one. His record stands in contradistinction to the old adage that a prophet is never without honor save in his own country, for in the city which has always been his home Dr. Abbott has gained recognition as an able physician of wide and accurate learning and of skill and ability in practice. At the outbreak of the Spanish-American war he was largely instrumental
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in organizing a provisional regiment. which, however, was not called to the front. In recognition of his service he now holds a complimentary commis- sion as surgeon from the state legislature, as well as a letter from the governor, stating that he probably did more than any other Illinois physician toward raising troops. He also holds a commission in the Illinois National Guard as major and surgeon unassigned.
Dr. Abbott. since his graduation, has kept in touch with the advance of the profession and through investigation and research is continually broad- ening his knowledge and promoting his efficiency. He is a member of the American Medical Association, of the Illinois State Medical Society, the Fox River Valley Medical Society and the Elgin Physicians' Club. In more specifically social and fraternal fines he is connected with the Royal Arch Masons, the Odd Fellows, the Maccabees. the Mystic Workers, the Sons of Veterans, the Sons of the Revolution, and the Archæan Union, of which he has been and still holds the office of supreme medical director.
Pleasantly situated in his home life. Dr. Abbott was married in 1901 to Miss Ethelyn M. Wells, of Corning. Arkansas, and they have two sons and one daughter. namely: Cyril Edward. Gordon Wells, and Eunice. The Doctor has just moved into an elegant and thoroughly modern home at No. 24 South Liberty street. It is one of Elgin's finest residences, being a pressed- brick structure. located in a most select neighborhood. For the past six years he has been a member of Elgin's school board. and for the past two years has been president of the building and grounds committee.
TERENCE E. RYAN.
One of the most prominent lawyers practicing at the bar of Kane county is Terence E. Ryan, of St. Charles, who was born on a farm near the city of Limerick, Ireland. June 22, 1846, a son of Terence and Honora ( McCarthy ) Ryan, also natives of the Emerald isle. Deciding to try his fortune in the United States, the father, in company with his family, crossed the Atlantic in 1848 and came at once to Kane county, Illinois, locating on a farm two and a half miles northeast of Elgin. In 1852 he became a resident of Elgin, but a year later removed to Virgil township, where he carried on agricultural pur- suits until his removal to St. Charles in 1856. The latter city continued to be his home throughout the remainder of his life, and he passed away there in 1887 in the eighty-third year of his age. His wife survived him until 1895, dying at the age of eighty-four years.
Terence E. Ryan of this review acquired his early education in the public schools of Kane county and was graduated from the west side school of St. Charles in 1866. Later he attended the Elgin AAcademy for two years, grad- uating in 1868. In the meantime, however, he had served his country during the Civil war, enlisting in 1864, when only seventeen years of age, as a mem- ber of Company E. One Hundred and Forty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry. with which he served as corporal until the close of the war. Returning home
T. E. RYAN
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he resumed his education and after his graduation from the Elgin Academy he taught school on the east side of South Elgin for two years, resigning that position to enter the law office of Hon. William D. Barry at St. Charles. Pass- ing the required examination, he was admitted to the bar in October, 1871, and has since engaged in the practice of his chosen profession and has met with marked success.
On the 14th of May, 1874, Mr. Ryan was united in marriage to Miss Emily Millington, who was born in St. Charles in 1853, and is the second daughter of Darwin and Miranda (Boardman) Millington, early settlers of St. Charles. Her father was born in 1815 and died in 1865. Mr. and Mrs. Ryan became the parents of six children, but two are now deceased: George S., who was born July 23, 1877, and died October 16, 1886; and Mary Ella, who was born October 28, 1878, and died April 28, 1879. Those still living are Minerva, who was married November 5, 1902, to Dr. James H. Dalbey, of Elgin : Harriette Frances, who after graduating from the St. Charles high school attended Oberlin (Ohio) College, where she was graduated June 25, 1908; Frank Millington, now a junior at Harvard College; and Terence E., a senior at St. Charles high school. Mrs. Ryan and the children are all members of the Congregational church.
Fraternally Mr. Ryan is a Knight Templar Mason, a member of Bethel Commandery, No. 36, at Elgin, and he also belongs to St. Charles Lodge, No. 14, I. O. O. F., and to the Modern Woodmen of America, and to the Grand Army of the Republic. At the breaking out of the Rebellion the four sons in the Ryan family were among the first to join the Union army. One was killed at Kenesaw Mountain, another was wounded at Gettysburg; but the two others returned home uninjured. Since attaining his majority T. E. Ryan has always affiliated with the republican party, and has taken quite an influential part in local politics. He was a member of the county central committee for sixteen years, and for a great portion of the time was its secre- tary. He is chairman of the advisory council of the Legislative Voters' League of the State of Illinois for the fourteenth senatorial district. In November, 1880, he was elected states attorney and most acceptably filled that office for four years, but has never cared for political honors outside of his profession, though he served as alderman for five years. In the spring of 1908 he took charge of the campaign under the local option law, and it was largely through his efforts that the town voted all saloons out. He has been the local attorney for the Chicago Great Western Railway since 1886. His reputation as a lawyer has been won through earnest, honest labor, and his standing at the bar is a merited tribute to his ability.
The St. Charles Chronicle of March 2, 1900, paid the following tribute to Mr. Ryan : "It is a fact that all will be willing to concede that this man is and has been a leader ever since his name first became associated with the busi- ness interests of St. Charles. A hard worker, a close student, of indomitable courage and perseverance in everything he undertook, it is but natural that he should have made a high place for himself in the business and professional world. He has never tired in his efforts to promote public enterprises, and his property investments in St. Charles are many, representing thousands of
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dollars. He was president of the St. Charles Land Association. formed in 1893. and the principal owner of it. He was the man that brought the Moline Malleable Iron Works to St. Charles, which cost him over thirty thousand dol- lars-but for the panic of 1893 other large plants would have been located in St. Charles at that time. Mr. Ryan owns one of the most beautiful homes in the city, built in 1891, and also owns the store building occupied by the post- office and the two buildings adjoining it on the east. He platted the Ryan addition, which has proved valuable to the city. These numerous property holdings prove the interest that Mr. Ryan feels in St. Charles and its future. He has spent much money here and expects to spend a great deal more."
IRA CROWELL BARNES.
This highly esteemed citizen of Kane county, who for thirty-seven years was one of its most successful farmers and is now living retired from active pursuits in Aurora, was born in Jefferson county, New York, May 3. 1835. and when he was ten years of age accompanied his parents and the rest of the family to Illinois, locating with them in Kane county. He completed in the public schools of this county the education he had begun in those of his birthplace, and. in the intervals between the sessions, helped to break the virgin soil of the farm on which the family lived and render it fruitful in the products of civilized life.
The long and trying journey from the county of his nativity to that of his present residence was an event of great interest in the early life of Mr. Barnes, and he has a vivid recollection of all its incidents. It occupied three weeks, owing to delays in making boat connections and other mishaps, and led him through regions which were. in the main, just awakening to new life and productiveness under the impulse of advancing civilization. The family started at Goose Bay on Lake Ontario and came over the lakes to Chicago. then a crude and straggling town floundering in the mud and quicksands of the lake shore, and giving no sign of the marvelous vitality that was to make it what it is today. It had as yet no railroad and but few of even the comforts of modern days.
From Chicago the trip was continued overland by teams through an almost trackless wilderness until Kane county was reached, and here a home was made of the farm in Sugar Grove township on which now lives Mr. Barnes' brother Ethelbert, in the sketch of whom, found on another page of this history, will be seen a full record of the family in detail. On this farm Ira Baines grew to manhood, acquiring stature and strength in its useful labors and completing his education at the nearby district school.
In 1864. on August 11. he was married to Miss Henrietta M. Simmons. a daughter of Charles and Janette ( Winton ) Simmons, also natives of New York state. The father came to Kane county in 1835 and took up a farm in Sugar Grove township, which is a part of section 24. Two years later he returned to his native state and brought his wife to this county, and on the
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farm which they had previously selected they lived together until 1855, when Mrs. Simmons died. In 1864 her husband moved to Humboldt county, Iowa, and located in Dakotah City. He died in Sugar Grove.
Mr. and Mrs. Barnes became the parents of four children : Della, the wife of James Nance, of Aurora; Ida May, also a resident of Aurora and the wife of Jerry D. Putnam of that city, whose life story is recorded elsewhere in this volume ; Eliza J., who married Portus P. Benton and lives in Sugar Grove township; and Edward Andrew, who was born June 17, 1872, and died October 3, 1905. He married Anna May Benjamin, March 14, 1904, and she now makes her home with Mr. Barnes. She was born at Big Rock in this county, the daughter of James and Marguerite Benjamin.
Mrs. Ira Barnes was born April 6, 1845, and lived with her parents until her marriage. She was one of eleven children, the others being: Ruth, the wife of Edward Snook, who lives at Dakotah City, Iowa; Rachel A., whose residence is the same, and who is the wife of William C. Rowley; Solomon, who lives at Forest City, Iowa; Sarah, the wife of David Thomas of Hum- boldt, Iowa; Frank, also a resident of Humboldt, Iowa; Mrs. Adeline Brooks, now deceased; Charles G., whose home is at Humboldt, Iowa; Julia E., the wife of John M. Thomas, of Humboldt, Iowa; and twins who died in infancy. The family lived for a time in Sangamon county, Illinois, before settling on the Kane county farm, and the father was intimately acquainted with Abra- ham Lincoln. He was fond of repeating stories and anecdotes told by that illustrious man and martyred president.
Mr. Barnes is a republican in politics, but he has never had any taste or desire for public office. Although often solicited to become a candidate for important places, he has nearly always declined. To one appeal of this kind, however, he yielded, consenting to serve Sugar Grove township as col- lector for one year, and making an excellent record in the office by his fidelity to duty and the breadth of view with which he performed it. He and his wife are members of the West Aurora Farmers Club and give it the benefit of their intelligent activity in its behalf and their valued contributions to its proceedings. All who know them respect them highly and their influence for good is everywhere felt throughout the townships in which they have lived.
CLARENCE S. GREEN.
A resident of Kane county from the time when he was sixteen years of age, and having grown to manhood and begun the battle of life for himself here, Clarence S. Green, of Blackberry township, is almost wholly a product of the county, as he is a typical representative of its people. He was born in Dutchess county, New York, May 27, 1857, one of three children of Duncan C. and Cynthia A. (Pierce) Green, both natives of Dutchess county. The father was a man of celebrity in his native county, where he served sixteen years as a justice of the peace. He brought his family to Kane county, this state, in 1869, and located on a farm in Blackberry township. He was a
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Methodist in religious faith and a stanch republican in politics. Believing fully in the principles and tenets of his party, he fortified his convictions by a special study of the protective tariff theory in all its bearings. He served the township two years faithfully and wisely as supervisor, but after the death of his wife he went back to the state of New York and took up his residence in Brooklyn. In 1905 he returned to this county, where he passed the remain- der of his days, and at his death was laid to rest by the side of his wife in Sugar Grove cemetery. Mrs. Green, the mother of our subject, died at five o'clock in the morning, just three hours before completing the forty-ninth year of married life. She was a member of the celebrated Pierce family which has won distinction in many parts of the country and in various lines of useful and dignified activity, and could trace her ancestry back in an unbroken line to 1600. Their offspring numbered two besides their son Clarence, another son, Pierce, a prosperous farmer of Blackberry township in this county, and a daughter named Stasia, who died a number of years ago.
The advantages of education in the schools were not available to Clarence S. Green. It was necessary for him to help in supporting the family, and he was able to go to school but three months of each year until he came to Illinois. The rest of his education was secured from that hard but impressive task master, experience, and that he profited by the lessons is proven by his record. When he reached man's estate he joined a cousin in the purchase of a farm, which for three years the two worked in partnership. At the end of that period he bought the farm on which he now lives and on which he has made his home from the time of his purchase. It was the first claim taken up in Blackberry township and the house and barn were built in 1839, being the first erected in this township. When Mr. Green acquired the ownership of this property there was scarcely any improvement on it, but he has since developed it into an excellent and productive farm and enriched and adorned it with imposing buildings and all the necessary additions required for a country home of good quality in this land and age of the world. He has expended over six thousand dollars in these improvements, and they are well worth the money, as well as creditable to his taste and judgment in their structure and arrangement. He owns one hundred and ninety acres in one tract and six acres of woodland in addition. The home farm has been a thing of pride with him, and in addition to his commodious dwelling. barns and outhouses, he has well arranged grounds and accessories for pleasure, among them a fine croquet park. The farm is four miles south of Elburn on Rural Free Delivery route No. I. four miles from Lafox and seven miles from Batavia.
Mr. Green is a firm and active republican in political faith. He takes a leading part in public affairs, has served many years as school director, and is now in his third term and fourth year as assessor. In 1884 he was united in marriage with Miss Augusta Gorham, whose parents live at St. Charles. Her father is a retired farmer. Mrs. Green has many pieces of fine needle- work which had been handed down in the family as souvenirs through several generations. One made in 1791 and one in 1809. Mr. and Mrs. Green have one child, Stanley, who is living at home. Mr. Green is a self-made man and
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the job was well done. He is a sterling, upright and conscientious citizen, true to a lofty ideal of manhood in all the relations of life and eminently worthy of the high esteem in which he is held.
ROBERT ALFRED WINDETT, M.D.
Aurora with its pulsing industrial and commercial interests is continually drawing to her men who are capable and successful in the professions. This number includes Dr. Robert Alfred Windett, now a well known physician and surgeon. He was born in Bristol, Illinois, October 5. 1860, his parents being Alfred and Electa (Ford) Windett, the former a native of England, and the latter of Fort Miller, New York. The paternal grandparents were John and Eliza (Austin) Windett, natives of England. They came to America in 1836, and the same year settled in Kendall county. Illinois, where John Win- dett continued to make his home until called to his final rest at an advanced age. His wife reached the very venerable age of eighty-four years, and her death was then occasioned by a broken hip. Previous to that accident she would walk three or four miles on visits to her children.
This number included Alfred Windett, who throughout his entire life followed the occupation of farming. He came to Illinois when a young man in 1836 with his parents, and the family home was established on Rob Roy creek in Kendall county. There the grandfather took up government land and owned a considerable tract, which he improved and developed. His son Alfred grew to manhood on that farm and later bought land of his own, hav- ing two hundred and fifty acres, which he cultivated throughout his remain- ing days. He wedded Miss Electa A. Ford. a daughter of Lyman Ford. who was a native of New York and was of Holland Dutch descent. He became steamboat captain on the Hudson, but in pioneer days removed to the west and for a time lived in Kendall county. Later he took up his abode in Mis- souri and eventually went to Omaha, where he died at an advanced age. In1 the west he followed farming. His wife also reached an old age. They reared a large family, including Mrs. Alfred Windett who, surviving her husband, died in 1904, at the age of sixty-three years. Both were Methodists in religious faith. Their family numbered three children: Robert Alfred; John F .. of Bristol; and James F., of Montgomery, Illinois.
Dr. Windett was reared in Kendall county on his father's farm, and after attending the district school continued his education in the Sugar Grove Normal and in Jennings Seminary at Aurora. When he had decided upon the practice of medicine as a life work he entered Rush Medical College of Chicago and was graduated in 1887, after which he located for practice in Aurora, where he has remained continuously since, or for a period of twenty- one years. The public have learned to know and recognize him as one of the capable representatives of the medical fraternity here. His ability has been such as to enable him to cope with many intricate problems that have been presented in various phases of diseases and he is always careful in the
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diagnosis of a case, while his judgment is rarely if ever at fault in foreseeing the outcome of disease.
In 1886 Dr. Windett was married to Miss Evelyn S. West. a daughter of Elijah West. They traveled life's journey together for about nineteen years and were then separated by the death of Mrs. Windett in 1905. when she was forty-five years of age. On the 29th of June. 1907. Dr. Windett wedded Miss Cora A. Hester. daughter of George Hester.
They are both consistent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, and Dr. Windett is a prominent Mason, belonging to Aurora Lodge, No. 254. A. F. & A. M .: Aurora Chapter, No. 22. R. A. M. : Aurora Commandery. No. 22, K. T. : and the Medinah Temple of the Mystic Shrine in Chicago. He is likewise connected with the Oriental Consistory of Chicago, in which he has attained the thirty-second degree of the Scottish Rite, and he belongs likewise to Waubonsie Lodge. I. O. O. F. : to the Elks and the Modern Woodmen of America. Politically he is a republican.
His residence is at No. I11 View street, where he owns a good home. and he also has several city lots in Aurora, and one hundred and sixty acres of land in Alberta county, Canada. He has thus made investments of his income which has been derived from a good practice, and which has con- stantly grown as the years have passed by and he has demonstrated his power to check the ravages of disease and promote the restoration of health. He belongs to the Fox River Valley Medical Association, to the Illinois State Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and thus keeps in touch with the advanced thought of the profession in its continuous onward march toward that perfection which is the goal of all conscientious physi- cians. He is a man of strong individuality and keen discernment, bringing these forces to bear in the discharge of his professional duties, while those who know him socially find him a genial gentleman, always courteous and manifesting that deference for the opinions of others which ever wins good will and regard in any land or clime.
QUINCY G. SHELDON.
Quincy G. Sheldon, engaged in the livery business at Elburn, was born June 12, 1863. in this county, where his father, Samuel R. Sheldon, located in pioneer times, arriving in the year 1848. He was a millwright by trade. and constructed a large sawmill near the present site of the Campton town house. He formed a company for the purpose of constructing a plank road from this point to Chicago. They began work and built a piece of road east of Lily Lake, Illinois, when because of a financial stringency they were forced to abandon the project. Mr. Sheldon afterward purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, for which he paid five hundred dollars, earning the money to pay for it in one year by working at the carpenter's trade. This tract of land lies two and one-half miles southwest of Elburn. When he made
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the purchase there were indications of Indian wigwams on the place, and not a furrow had been turned nor an improvement made that indicated the civilization of the white race. Mr. Sheldon continued to reside on the farm until 1868, brought the land under a high state of cultivation and carried on the work of improvement until the property yielded him a very gratifying financial income. He met all of the trials of the frontier in his efforts to make a home on the border of civilization, when it was difficult to obtain supplies owing to the distance from town and to the condition of the roads, as well as the financial resources of the individual. Mr. Sheldon, however, came to be known as a prosperous farmer and enjoyed the full respect of all with whom he came in contact. He married Miss Malintha M. Churchill in Ver- mont, both riding the same horse to the parsonage. They were devoted members of the Christian church, and when he was called to his final rest his remains were interred in the Elburn cemetery. He had a brother, Joseph Sheldon, who at one time was a partner of Jay Gould in his railroad projects. He was afterward one of the main promoters of the Erie canal, and it was largely through his genius that the work was carried forward to successful completion.
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