USA > Illinois > Kane County > History of Kane County, Ill. Volume II > Part 64
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The last named acquired his education in the district schools of Plato township but his advantages in this direction were very meager, for his services were needed on the home farm, and he was compelled to abandon his studies at a very early age. He assisted in the operation of the home property until he reached the age of twenty-two years, when he started out upon an independent venture, being employed as a farm hand for a few months. He was then married, the lady of his choice being Miss Tresa Phelan, who was born in Plato township, in August, 1877, and whose parents were farming people of that district. Both are now deceased.
Following his marriage Mr. Swift took up his abode upon a tract of rented land, which has since been his home. He is engaged in general agricultural pursuits and also keeps eighteen cows for dairy purposes. His success is the result of his own well directed energy, labor and perseverance,
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and he is justly classed among the representative agriculturists of this community.
Mr. Swift's study of the political questions and issues of the day has led him to give hearty support to the republican party but he has never been active as an office seeker, preferring to do his duty as a private citizen. His religious faith is that of the Catholic church. Starting out in life empty- handed he has steadily worked his way upward to success and no citizen of this community is held in higher esteem and respect than is Mr. Swift.
JOSEPH CHRYSTAL.
Comfortable now in all the ways of life, and having earned his comfort by earnest, honest labor, with struggles through privations and difficulties from his youth to his well matured manhood, Joseph Chrystal, a retired farmer of Burlington township and one of its most substantial and influential citizens, can look back with pleasure over the obstacles that opposed his progress and tried his nerve, for they were turned by his determined spirit into means for his advancement and became sources of inspiration and instruction.
Mr. Chrystal was born at Hemingsford, Canada, April 19, 1845, and is a son of George and Ann ( Barren) Chrystal, the former a native of London, England, and the latter of Canada. The father was a farmer's son, and for a few years after leaving school worked as a farm hand in the neighborhood of his native city, but wages were low, crops were often scanty and times were hard. The aspiring youth worked with a will and did his best to get along. He soon learned, however, that he could not hope to ever win such a success as he longed for if he remained in that country. He was still a young man and had no one to provide for but himself, and the new world beckoned him with persuasive hand to more promising opportunities. Many of his associates were in the same condition, and some could scarcely keep the wolf from the door. A company of them were preparing to emigrate to Canada and he determined to join the party. Obtaining a reluctant con- sent from his parents, he made the trip, arriving in due time at Hemingsford, where he decided to locate for a time and went to work at manual labor for a daily wage. He toiled steadily and faithfully, and the hopes which had quickened his fancy soon began to take on more tangible shapes, for he made better progress than he had at home.
Soon after his arrival in Canada he was married to Miss Mary Barren, and a few years after this event he brought his young family to Illinois, choosing Kane county as his residence and locating on a farm in Virgil town- ship. Six children were born in the household, the sisters and one brother of Joseph being: Elizabeth, who is now the wife of Walter Rice, of Iowa; Louisa, who became the wife of Clarence Elliott, a farmer, and now lives in Sycamore, Illinois; Frances, the wife of Irwin Conner, a farmer now living at Richardson, Illinois; Mary, the wife of John Fathergill, a Burlington
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township farmer: and William, who is conducting a profitable poultry busi- ness in Iowa. Hannah became the wife of Dennis Crips but both are dead. The father was a Catholic. the mother a member of the Church of England. Both are deceased and their remains were buried in High Grove cemetery.
Their son Joseph received his instruction in the rudimentary branches of book learning in a little country school in Burlington township. The school was primitive and the terms were short. As soon as spring opened the help of every hand was needed on the farms in those early days and all the children had to go to work. In addition to these deficiencies in educa- tional advantages. Mr. Chrystal was able to attend the school but a few years. becoming by force of circumstances a regular hand on his father's farm at an early age. He remained with his parents until he was twenty-four years old, when he was married to Miss Prudence Frink, who was born in the state of New York. They have no children.
After his marriage Mr. Chrystal moved to the farm of eighty acres which he now owns, and it was here that his real battle of life began and his lessons in endurance and self-denial showed their usefulness and power. He had many trials and difficult struggles but he persevered steadily, encouraged by the knowledge that he was moving forward. When his father died he also took charge of the home farm, which went to a younger brother.
Mr. Chrystal and his wife are members of the Free Methodist Episcopal church, and in politics he is a stanch republican. Both are sturdy and reliable in their citizenship and faithful in the performance of public and private duties. They have worked arduously throughout their lives and all they have achieved is the result of their own systematic and persevering industry. Their own struggles have taught them how to appreciate the difficulties of others, and their kindness to all around them has endeared them to many and won them the respect of all.
JOHN WILLIAM BARTELT.
John William Bartelt, a well known and successful farmer of Blackberry township, is one of Kane county's native sons, his birth occurring in Batavia township, December 2, 1866, and he is a worthy representative of an old and honored family of this region. His father, Carl Bartelt, was born in Germany in 1831 and passed his boyhood and youth in that country. It was in 1856 that he emigrated to the new world and took up his residence in Batavia township, Kane county. Illinois, where he secured a tract of land and engaged in farming. He was married at Batavia, December 2, 1861, to Miss Caroline Schimmelpfenig, who was also a native of Germany, born in 1841, and they have become the parents of the following children: Emma, now the wife of J. Schimmelpfenig, a farmer of Batavia township; Amanda, the wife of G. T. Alberding, a bookkeeper residing in Chicago; Edith, the wife of J. Branbury, a farmer of Kane county ; Charles, a farmer living near Batavia; Mary, deceased; Willis, who is clerking in Chicago; Lenna, who is
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at home with her parents ; George, a farmer of Batavia township; Clara, the wife of L. Hubbard, professor of music, residing in Chicago; Edward, who is also clerking in Chicago; and Irma, at home.
John W. Bartelt acquired his education in the public schools of this county, which he attended until seventeen years of age and when not busy with his text-books he assisted his father in the operation of the home farm, remaining under the parental roof until 1890. He then secured employment in the Batavia paper mills, where he worked for five years, and at the end of that period rented a farm adjoining his father's, which he operated quite successfully until 1902, when he was able to purchase his present farm, con- sisting of two hundred acres of rich and arable land in Blackberry township. He is a very progressive and enterprising farmer and his place is thoroughly up-to-date in its appointments.
In 1896 Mr. Bartelt was united in marriage to Miss Lina Alexander, who was born in Elburn, Illinois, November 3, 1873, and they now have three children: Margaret, born October 14, 1898; Dorothy, born January 23, 1900; and Spencer M., born September 12, 1904. Mrs. Bartelt's mother, Mrs. Mary L. ( Miner ) Alexander, resides with them. She has the distinction of being the first white child born in Kaneville township, her birth occurring November 27, 1837.
Among his cherished possessions Mr. Bartelt has an old chair that has rocked six generations of his family. His religious connection is with the Methodist Episcopal church, and in his social relations he is connected with the Mystic Workers. The republican party has always found in him a stanch supporter of its principles and he has efficiently served as school director in his district for several years. He is one of the representative and prominent citizens of his community and is widely and favorably known throughout the county which has always been his home.
HARVEY OAKES.
Harvey Oakes, deceased, was born in New York in 1850, his parents being Asa and Sarah (Carlton) Oakes. The father was one of the very earliest settlers of Marengo, to which place he had journeyed overland by wagon. He located on a farm and was widely recognized as a prominent and enterprising citizen, taking an active part in the early development of this section of the state. Both he and his wife passed away in Elgin. Their children were Horace, Charles, George, Harvey. Mrs. Hattie St. John, Mrs. Mary Williams and Mrs. Delia Buck. They also had several grandchildren but the daughter of Harvey is the only one bearing the name of Oakes.
Harvey Oakes acquired his education in the public schools of Marengo, and subsequently learned the tinner's trade, which he successfully followed for a number of years .¡ During the latter part of his life, however, he was employed in the Elgin National Watch Company's factory.
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On the Ist of May, 1900, Mr. Oakes was joined in wedlock to Miss Mary Chamberlain Gray, a daughter of Nathaniel and Abbie (Thayer) Gray, who were representatives of old families of Mainc. The father was of Scotch lineage but the family had been represented in the United States for three generations on the paternal side and for four generations in the maternal line. Nathaniel Gray was a farmer by occupation, but during the last ten years of his life was engaged in the agricultural implement business. His birth had occurred in 1825, and he was called to his final rest in the year 1903, his demise occurring in Maine. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Oakes was born one child. Clarissa Carlton.
In his political views Mr. Oakes was a stalwart republican and took an active part in the local work of the party. Fraternally he was a Mason, being a worthy exemplar of the teachings of the craft. His death occurred in Elgin on the 9th of January, 1904, and was the occasion of deep and wide- spread regret, for he had gained a host of friends in this city by reason of his genial, social nature and upright, honorable career.
CHRISTIAN SOLFISBURG.
Although Christian Solfisburg has passed from the scene of earthly activi- ties, being no longer a factor in the commercial and manufacturing interests of Aurora, the influence of his life and labors remains and his example is a source of inspiration and encouragement to others, showing what may be accomplished when one has the will to dare and to do. He was the promoter of one of the leading business concerns of the city and left behind a record of irreproachable integrity in business affairs. His natal place was Berne, Swit- zerland, and the date of his birth the 12th of January, 1832. His parents were John and Mary Ann Solfisburg, who were also natives of the land of the Alps.
Christian Solfisburg was reared in Switzerland to the age of twenty years. when in 1852 he bade adieu to friends and native country and sailed for the United States. He did not tarry on the eastern coast, but came to Illinois, and after spending a few years in Kendall county removed to Kane county in 1856. Here he made his first independent business venture, having previously been in the employ of others. He here began dealing in wood at the town of Aurora, at which period cut timber constituted the universal fuel of the great middle West and of other parts of the country as well. He prospered in this undertaking, and in 1860 he utilized his increased capital in establishing a brick, lime and building material manufacturing business. The gradual expan- sion of his trade under his careful management and capable guidance made this one of the largest business ventures of the kind in the state. It is still a factor in the commercial life of the county, being conducted by his two sons, Albert C. and A. Lincoln. Mr. Solfisburg was one of the organizers of the Aurora National Bank, and was also a director until the time of his death.
Mr. Solfisburg was a man of splendid characteristics, of high ideals and lofty purposes. His social, genial nature made him popular, while his
CHRISTIAN SOLFISBURG
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unwearied industry and unfaltering perseverance gained him success. In poli- tics he was ever a stalwart republican, who rejoiced in the adoption of the party principles, yet he never desired office as a reward for party fealty. How- ever, he served for over twenty years as highway commissioner, and was for some time alderman, although this was an unsought honor. In fact, the position sought him, for his fellow townsmen recognized his loyalty to the public good and knew that he would be true to all public trusts. He held friendship inviolable and his home ties as a sacred trust, and was never hap- pier than when he was promoting the welfare and interests of his wife and children.
On the 13th of January, 1859, Mr. Solfisburg was married to Miss Eliza- beth Love, whose parents, Robert and Margaret (Lander) Love, were natives of Toronto, Canada. Mr. Love came to Aurora in 1852, and was long one of its honored and prominent citizens. He served the Union as a soldier of the Civil war, and was always progressive in his citizenship. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Solfisburg were born eleven children, all of whom yet survive : Clara, the wife of John Kerr, now living retired: Albert C .; A. Lincoln; Lillian, the wife of H. H. Werner, manager in the shoe department of the Fox River Supply Com- pany ; Edwin L., financial clerk in the postoffice: Addie B., the wife of Dr. William B. Sherman; Lydia A., at home; Charlotte, the wife of Van B. Eyerly, a resident of Canton, Illinois ; Roy J., a practicing attorney of Aurora ; Flora E., at home; and Christian H., a student in the State University at Champaign, Illinois. The sons Albert C. and A. Lincoln are successors of their father in business and are conducting the trade along the same reliable yet progressive lines instituted by their father.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Solfisburg were members of the People's church, and their salient traits of character commended them to the confidence and good will of all. Mr. Solfisburg died July 17, 1905, after a residence in Illinois of over half a century. Coming to the new world without capital, the place which he made for himself in business circles and in the regard of his fellow citizens was most commendable.
GEORGE C. EDMUNDS.
George C. Edmunds, engaged in contracting and building in Aurora, is by the consensus of public opinion accounted one of the representative residents of the city. He was born in Pembrook, New Hampshire, Sep- tember 3, 1845, and his parents, William and Cynthia (Marden) Edmunds, were also natives of that state. The former was the only child of Moses and Hannah (Knox) Edmunds. The grandfather died when a young man, while his wife was almost a centenarian at the time of her demise.
William Edmunds learned the shoemaker's trade in early manhood and later became a carpenter. He lived for many years in Pembrook, New Hampshire, but died in Manchester, that state, at the advanced age of eighty- four years. He was a soldier of the Union army in the Civil war, serving
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with the Second Regiment of Burdan's Sharpshooters for about nine months. After the war he returned to his home and resumed work at the carpenter's trade. He held membership in the Congregational church, to which his wife also belonged. She died when about seventy-six years of age. Her father was Newell Marden, a native of New Hampshire, who had quite a large family-four sons and four daughters. Three of the number are now living : Mrs. Sophronia Knox, of Manchester, New Hampshire; Nathan Marden, of Weymouth, Massachusetts; and Amanda, the wife of Isaac Fife, of Pem- brook, New Hampshire. Unto William and Cynthia ( Marden) Edmunds were born six children, three of whom survive: George C., now of Aurora; Albianna, the wife of Charles Warner, of Manchester, New Hampshire; and Hattie, the wife of William Colby, of Somerville, Massachusetts.
George C. Edmunds was reared in the city of his nativity and after attending the public schools continued his studies in the Pembrook Academy. He afterward began work in a brickyard, where he remained for two or three summers and then followed various pursuits. In 1864, when nineteen years of age, he enlisted for service in the navy on the United States ship Vandalia, with which he was connected for a year. After the war he came west to Illinois in 1865, settling at Sandwich, where he made his home for a quarter of a century. There he followed the carpenter's trade, being closely asso- ciated with the building interests of the community. Later he removed to Sugar Grove and in 1890 he returned to the east, spending the succeeding decade in Manchester, New Hampshire. In 1900 he came to Aurora, where he has lived continuously since. He has been doing contract work nearly all of the time and has erected a number of the handsome residences of the city.
Mr. Edmunds was married to Mrs. Mary A. Edmunds, the widow of Moses Edmunds and a daughter of Stephen O. Gould. They became the parents of three daughters and a son. Nellie F., the eldest, is the wife of Charles Morey, a resident of Manchester. New Hampshire, and they have three children: Irene, Wendell and Pearl. Edgar E. is a printer, who married Flora Lancaster, ard they have one son, George L. Pauline is the wife of John Regner, of Lynn. Massachusetts, and has one son, Ernest. Hattie died in infancy. The wife and mother passed away December 9. 1896, and on the 13th of February, 1900, Mr. Edmunds married Mrs. Florence B. Hall, the widow of Erasmus Ward Hall and a daughter of A. S. and Rhoda Ann ( Rounds) Bolster. Mrs. Edmunds was born in Eureka, Wisconsin. Her mother was the first white American child born in Win- nebago county, Wisconsin. Her father was a native of the state of New York and became a pioneer settler of Sugar Grove township. Kane county, Illinois. He came to this locality with his parents, who took up government land and were among the earliest settlers of the community. The grand- father of Mrs. Edmunds was the owner of a large farm in Sugar Grove township and there died when about seventy years of age. His wife was Mary (Curtis) Bolster, who survived him for many years and was nearly eighty years of age at the time of her death. Their family numbered three sons, including Albert S. Bolster, the father of Mrs. Edmunds. He was long
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identified with agricultural pursuits in this county and witnessed it emerge from pioneer environments to take a place with the leading counties of this great commonwealth. He died in 1899 at the age of seventy years and six months, and his wife passed away June 1, 1908, on the old home place. The maternal grandfather of Mrs. Edmunds was Lester Rounds, a native of Vermont, who in his business career largely followed general merchandising. He was one of seven brothers who came to the west from the Green Moun- tain state and settled in Winnebago county, Wisconsin, becoming founders of the town of Eureka. There were fourteen children in that family, all of whom reached years of maturity. Lester Rounds married Aurilla Parker and died at the very venerable age of ninety-four years, while his wife reached the age of seventy-two years. They were the parents of five children. Mr. and Mrs. Bolster had five children : Mrs. Edmunds ; Charles Bolster, who is living at Sugar Grove, Illinois ; Effie M., the wife of Burt Gould, of Aurora ; Ina G., the wife of Clarence Calkins, of Sugar Grove township; and Edward, who died in infancy. By her former marriage Mrs. Edmunds had two children, Edith Nola and Sidney Ward Hall. The latter is at home with his mother. The daughter became the wife of Ralph Merritt Andrews and after his death she married Sherman S. Slick, an employe in the census department at Washington, D. C.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Edmunds attend the People's church and hie belongs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Manchester, New Hampshire. He is also a comrade of Aurora Post, No. 20, G. A. R., and belongs to the Modern Woodmen of America. His political allegiance is given to the repub- lican party and in all matters of citizenship he is progressive and loyal. Both Mr. and Mrs. Edmunds are well known in Aurora and have an extensive circle of warm friends, who esteem them highly for their many excellent traits of character. Mr. Edmunds has made steady progress in his business career and, placing his dependence upon the safe. substantial qualities of diligence and perseverance, has gained a goodly measure of success and moreover has won a most honored name.
EDWIN. E. CRAFT.
A native of Burlington township and reared and educated among its people, whom he has served with credit in various public positions, Edwin E. Craft has been closely connected with the history of the section and is both a product and a representative of its citizenship. His birth occurred Sep- tember 16, 1860, and he is the son of Charles T. and Catherine (Mckellar) Craft, the father a native of Pennsylvania and both, at the time of the marriage, residents of Plato township in this county.
The father was born November 1, 1828, and obtained his education in the country schools of his native state. His first occupation, after leaving school, was as a driver of a canal team on the Erie canal, and this lasted two years. At the end of that period he came to Illinois in company with a
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brother-in-law and his family, making the trip with ox-teams and experiencing the usual hardships and privations incident to such a journey in that day. The new arrivals located near Plato. Kane county, and Mr. Craft secured employment on the Galena division of the Fox River Valley Railroad. A short time afterward. in company with his brother John, he rented a farm, which the brothers worked together for four years. In 1850 he was married and settled down on a home of his own. The children born to him and his wife were: Charles E .. now a merchant in Chicago; Katie E .. now the wife of H. E. McDonough. also a resident of Chicago and a traveling sales- man out of that city; Sarah E., the wife of Thomas Haygreen, a farmer and dairyman of Plato township: George A .. a lumber merchant in Rockford, Illinois : Daniel, a farmer in Campton township; and Edwin E.
The last named was educated in the Burlington township public schools, attending until he was eighteen, and at Elgin Academy, which he attended three years. After leaving school he devoted eight years to making cheese and butter. The farther west had allurements for him at the end of that period. and. after passing a year in Minnesota, he went on to South Dakota. where he entered three hundred and twenty acres of land. on which he resided six years. He found Illinois and Kane county more suited to his taste. however, and returning to this county, he bought the farm of one hundred and twenty acres on which he now resides. Of this farm he has eighty acres under cultivation and the rest in pasture land. The farm is on the Bur- lington road, two miles from a railroad station and one hundred rods from a schoolhouse.
Mr. Craft's wife was Miss Effie S. Cripps, a native of Burlington town- ship, and their marriage occurred October 2. 1884. They have had two children, their daughter Cora, deceased, and their son, Glen, who is living at home. The father is a democrat. a member of the Masonic order and a Modern Woodman of America. He served four years as supervisor and eight years as assessor of Burlington township, and has also been a school director for a number of years. His interest in the welfare of the township is plainly manifest and cordially appreciated, and his place in the esteem and good will of his fellow citizens is firmly established. His father is still living in Plato township. The mother died some years ago and her remains were buried in Read cemetery at Lily Lake.
PHILLIP BROCKNER.
Phillip Brockner, who has extensive farming and dairy interests in Rut- land township, is a native of Germany, where he was born December 22. 1872, the son of Adam and Katherine ( Leonhard) Brockner. His father was a soldier in the Franco-German war, and after his return to civic life engaged in farming. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Brockner were born seven children, five sons and two daughters, namely: Margarette and Eva, who reside at home; Adam, deceased ; Mary, the wife of Charles Shutz; Anna and Katy, both of
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