USA > Illinois > Kane County > History of Kane County, Ill. Volume II > Part 71
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Arriving in America at the age of fifteen years, Mr. Ehorn located in Dundee, Illinois, and there worked on a farm for some time. He was only eighteen years of age when he entered the service of his adopted country during the war of the Rebellion, becoming a member of Company I, Fifty- second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, with which he remained for eighteen months. On being discharged from the army at the close of hostilities, Mr. Ehorn returned to Dundee and resumed farming, which occupation he continued to follow throughout life.
On the Ioth of August, 1867, Mr. Ehorn was united in marriage to Miss Mary Fierke, a daughter of Jolin and Mary (Demmin) Fierke, and to them were born twenty children, of whom three died in infancy. The others are still living, namely: Mary, Carrie, Fred, Elizabeth, Charles, Anna, John, Christopher, Harry. Frank, Albert, Clara, Edward, Arthur, Ralph,
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Mabel and George. All are now self-supporting and they constitute a highly esteemed family. Mr. Ehorn died September 18, 1905, in the faith of the Lutheran church, with which he long held membership, and he had the respect and confidence of all who knew him.
MRS. JULIA I. KEENAN.
Having been born, reared and educated in Kane county, Mrs. Julia I. Keenan, of Blackberry township, is entirely a product of the county, and is thoroughly imbued with the spirit of its people. Her life began in Campton township, February 10, 1863, and she is a daughter of James and Susan (Shaw) Crosby, the former a native of Ireland and the latter of Saratoga, New York. The other children born in the family of her parents were Rose, the wife of John H. Hall, a resident of Campton township; Mary M., the wife of Thomas Murphy, a progressive farmer; Richard, who lives in Elburn; Clara, who is living at home ; Frank, a locomotive engineer, with his residence in Chicago; Edward, who is still at home; and David, Susie and Anna, who are deceased.
Mrs. Keenan attended the public schools, and after due preparation, entered Elburn high school, which she left when she was sixteen. She returned to her father's home and remained there until her marriage, which occurred June 25, 1884. After that event she took up her residence with her husband on the farm of one hundred and fifty-five acres on which she now lives. Her husband was Michael M. Keenan, who was born in Kaneville township, December 4, 1853, and died on his farm, February 3, 1908. He was educated in the public schools, which he left at the age of sixteen years, thereafter working on the farm with his father until his marriage, when he settled on his own farm. This farm is well developed. highly cultivated and extensively improved, Mr. and Mrs. Keenan having expended more than five thousand dollars in improvements and appliances for carrying on the work appertaining to it and the dairy business connected with it, which has been in operation during the last seven years. Mrs. Keenan owns a gasoline engine as motive power for her farm work, and all the other modern equip- ment of a first-class farm.
Her husband was a member of the Catholic Order of Foresters, in which he held a two thousand dollar certificate at the time of his death. He was an ardent democrat in political faith and was prominent in the public life of the county, serving some years as township collector and as school director during the whole of his residence in the district. He was very much interested in the cause of public education and devoted a great deal of time and energy to promoting it.
Four children came to brighten their beautiful home and add to their domestic happiness. These are: Francis J., who was born December 26, 1885; Leo M., who was born May 31, 1890; Clarence C., who was born January 8, 1894; and Donald M., who was born February 18, 1903-,
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Since her husband's death Mrs. Keenan has managed the farm and the dairy herself. She is a resolute and resourceful woman, with fine business capacity, and is recognized as such wherever she is known. She conducts her affairs with skill and excellent judgment, and her property is growing in value and productiveness in her capable hands. She is also known far and wide for her intelligent and helpful interest in all matters of public import and every thing that will contribute to the advancement of her community and the wel- fare of its people. She is, in short, a typical American woman of the better class, who relies on herself and knows what to do at all times for her own advantage and the good of her friends, neighbors and fellow citizens in general.
WILLIAM PERCY.
The son of a Burlington township farmer and himself born in that town- ship, and there also reared and educated. William Percy, a prosperous and progressive farmer and dairyman there, has passed his life to this time among the scenes which now surround him and the people with whom he mingles from day to day. His life began November 7, 1871, and has so far been devoted, since his boyhood, to the cultivation of the soil.
His father, Robert Percy, was born in England and became a resident of the United States and of Illinois at the age of forty. He took up his residence at Elgin, where he engaged in the manufacture of brick, making many of those which went into the construction of the older buildings, among them the old Wavey House. He married Agnes Varty, like himself a native of England, and after his marriage settled on a farm of two hundred and forty acres which he bought in Burlington township.
On this farm he and his wife died after many years of useful and pro- ductive labor, and their remains were laid to rest in the South Burlington cemetery. Their children were : William; Mirah, John, Harrison and Daniel, all deceased ; Robert S., who lives in Burlington ; Edgar W., a farmer, who is also a resident of Burlington. The father was a republican in politics and served a number of years as school director. He was a man of standing and influence in his community.
William Percy was educated in the Middleton district school, which he attended during the winter months, working to aid in supporting himself in the summers. He left school when he was about twenty, and during the next five years assisted his father on the home farm. On April 9. 1896, he was married to Miss Elizabeth Delles in Chicago. She is a native of DeKalb county, Illinois, and has passed the whole of her life to this time in the state. Mr. and Mrs. Percy have four children : Dorothy, Agnes, Harold and Amy. all at home.
Soon after their marriage the parents settled on the farm on which they now live. This contains eighty acres of good land, well improved and abun- antly watered. It is two miles and a half from a railroad station and three- fourths of a mile from the nearest schoolhouse. Mr. Percy is a judicious
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farmer and cultivates his land with vigor and excellent judgment. He raises a variety of crops, and in addition to his farming operations carries on a thriving dairy business. keeping eighteen cows for the purpose. He is pros- perous in his undertakings and stands well in the regard and good will of his fellow citizens, being looked upon as one of the township's most enterprising. public-spirited and representative men.
HERMAN THEODORE KLUG.
Herman Theodore Klug, deceased, was born in Germany on the 27th of February, 1862, and came to the United States when a young man of twenty- one years, locating in Chicago. In the metropolis he learned the laundry business and subsequently conducted an extensive steam laundry on the corner of Albany and Harrison streets. Five years ago he sold out the estab- lishment and became head laundryman at the Boys' Home at St. Charles, making his home at Five Islands, Elgin. He had purchased a place in Elgin on the west side, but died before removing there. While out hunting one day, near St. Charles, he was accidentally shot by a companion, his death occurring within an hour, on the 26th of June, 1905.
On the 10th of November, 1884, Mr. Klug was united in marriage to Miss Lilly Elfers, a daughter of Henry and Katherine (Gobbert) Elfers, natives of Germany. Her father, whose birth occurred in 1839, passed away in the fatherland in 1882, but her mother, who was born June 12, 1845, still survives, making her home in Chicago. Unto our subject and his wife were born six children, namely : Theodore Ludwig, Clara P., Arthur H., Hugo E., Meta M. M. and Alma L.
In his political views Mr. Klug was a stalwart republican, and fraternally was connected with the Knights of Pythias. Coming to the new world when a young man, he wisely utilized the broader business opportunities offered in a land unhampered by caste or class and won a gratifying measure of success in his undertakings. He was popular with his associates and gained an extensive circle of friends, both in Chicago and in St. Charles.
WILLARD EUGENE FILLMORE.
Willard Eugene Fillmore was born in the village of Lodi, now Maple Park, January 27, 1856. His father, Benjamin Fillmore, was born in Mira- miche, New Brunswick, June 25, 1833. John Fillmore, the father of Ben- jamin, was born in Nova Scotia, being a descendant of that name among the English settlers in Nova Scotia, after the expulsion of the Arcadians, or French settlers, around the Bay of Fundy. John Fillmore migrated to the northern part of New Brunswick and engaged in the manufacture of shingles at Miramiche, a small village near New Castle, where Benjamin was born.
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About 1844 he came with his family to Illinois and entered a tract of land southwest of the present village of Lily Lake, now owned by Nicholas Fiddler, Jr. He patented another tract of land near Lodi, to which he removed his family about 1852. There he continued to reside until near the time of his death, at the age of ninety-four years. This farm is now owned by William Reeves and Osbert H. Fillmore, a grandson, with the exception of that part included in Fillmore's addition to Maple Park. Benjamin Fillmore was mar- ried in 1854 to Mary Boyd, a native of Herkimer county, New York, whose family went to Chicago in 1838. He was a carpenter by trade but receiving a share of the home farm, removed to it in 1865. In 1883 he went to South Dakota, where he now resides. His wife, Mary Boyd Fillmore, died in April, 1901. Their family consisted of five children: Willard Eugene; Rosa E .; Lillian, now deceased; Osbert H. ; and Mary, now of Canton, Ohio.
Willard Eugene Fillmore lived on the farm near Maple Park with his parents, as most farmer boys do, assisting in the duties of the farm and attend- ing the public school during the winter months. In 1878 he went to Wheaton, where he pursued a three years' course of study, graduating with his class in 1880. After graduating he entered upon the duties of a teacher, which pro- fession he followed for more than twenty years. In the fall of 1901 he gave up teaching and became a farmer, in which vocation he still continues.
Mr. Fillmore was married in 1885 to Miss Mina Miller, of Steward, Lee county, Illinois. Of this union there is one son. Willard E., Jr., now of South Dakota.
In 1898 Mr. Fillmore joined the Sons of Veterans Regiment for the war in Cuba. This regiment was later mustered into the state service as the Sons of Veterans Regiment, 1. N. G., and was called out to put down a strike in the coal region around Pana and Virden, in October, 1898. the regiment being out about six weeks.
In politics Mr. Fillmore is a republican and is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. He is a member of the blue lodge, A. F. & A. M .; the chapter: Mystic Workers of the World; and the Modern Woodmen of America.
WILLIAM PRICE.
William Price, deceased, was born in County West Meath, Ireland, July 4, 1816, and in 1831, when he was but fifteen years of age, set out with his older brother Hugh to make a home in America, which had been represented to them as a land of boundless opportunity in all business, social and political relations. Their original intention was to go to the home of an uncle at Mount Talbot, Canada, and place themselves under his protection and guid- ance. But an old friend advised them to "steer clear" of all relatives and depend wholly on themselves. This they determined to do and instead of going to Mount Talbot located in Vermont, where William worked on a farm for a time, but soon afterward became a handy boy around a stage barn, spending two years in the care of horses. While so employed he
MR. AND MRS. WILLIAM PRICE
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often heard from travelers glowing accounts of the then far west, and with his fancy crowded with anticipations of what might await him in that remote and unsettled region, he turned his face once more toward the setting sun and came to Kane county in May, 1841.
Here he passed the remainder of his life, carved a good estate out of the wilderness and established himself high in the esteem of his fellow- inen. Those were stirring days in which he landed here and began life on the wild, unbroken prairie. Selecting what he considered the best of the region for his homestead, he hurried to Chicago, paid the required fee and secured a receipt from the government land office. For years Mr. Price hauled everything he raised to Chicago, for it was a long time before the railroad was built near his place. He experienced all of the hardships and privations of pioneer life, and performed all the arduous work of develop- ing a new farm. His was one of the first frame houses in Sugar Grove township and he was one of the most influential factors in the growth and development of this part of the state, especially contributing to its agricultural progress.
The lady with whom he was destined to walk life's journey for more than half a century came to Kane county with her parents in 1835, and in 1843 she and Mr. Price were united in marriage. She bore the maiden name of Mary M. Smith and was a native of Erie county, Pennsylvania. On the 23d of August, 1900, at the age of eighty-one, she departed this life beloved by her children and universally esteemed by the people among whom she had lived and labored so long as a kind and good neighbor and an upright, high-minded and public-spirited woman. Her husband's death occurred three years and four days later, on August 27, 1903. He was not a member of any church but was always very liberal in aiding the church by generous contributions to the work. He was a man of most charitable spirit, who gave freely to the poor and needy and his life was a most upright and honorable one, so that he left to his family the priceless heritage of an untarnished name. He never desired public office, but was regarded as one of the leaders of the democracy and manifested at all times a public- spirited and loyal citizenship that worked for the good of the community.
Mr. and Mrs. Price were the parents of eleven children, eight of whom survived them: Olive M., who was born in 1844; Judith Janette, the wife of Charles Benton, of Kanesville, Illinois, who was born in 1845; Hugh, a valued resident of Sandwich, Illinois, who was born in 1847; Minnie, who was born February 9. 1850, and also lives on the homestead together with her brothers; George, who was born February 22, 1852: Nancy, born in 1854, the wife of Richard Berry, of Kaneville: William W., born April 29, 1856; and Jessie, born in 1862, the wife of C. D. Cornell. of Plano. this state. George has never married, but on March 8. 1904. William was united in wedlock with Miss Cecilia M. Larson, a native of Sweden, born November 4, 1884. She accompanied her parents to this country in 1887. The domestic altar set up by this interesting couple has been cheered and sanctified by one child. their son Stanley William, whose life began July 19. 1906.
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George and William Price began their education in the country schools and finished it at the Aurora high school. They are democrats in political affiliations but, while devoted to their party and its principles, they have never sought any of its honors or emoluments for themselves, preferring to serve their country from the exalted post of a private station, and give their time wholly to the care and management of their farm, which has been highly improved and rendered very productive by their industry and skill. They have also given much attention to raising fine horses and hogs. and what they breed are very widely and favorably known for their excel- lence in all essential and leading features. The life story of these gentlemen bears its own comment. To the reflective mind it is in brief the history of America itself. Nature poured out her bounty on the soil of this country and waited for ages with all her immeasurable patience for the sons of inen to come and take advantage of it. In due time they came and, accepting her favors at her own price, purchased them with the required sacrifice, effort and endurance. For she did not sell them cheap or surrender them without adequate recompense. She demanded the eye to see, the alertness to seize and the genius to develop the opportunities she offered, and when these were tendered she yielded up her treasures graciously and abundantly. The Price brothers and their parents were among her chosen people, and she has not been negligent or grudging toward them. Their industry and thrift have wrought out for them a fine estate in her very lap of luxuries, and their high character, sterling worth and uprightness of demeanor toward all mankind have enshrined them in the hearts of their fellowmen at an altitude that is above the reach of envy, malice or ill will.
JAMES STAINFIELD.
Self-educated through private study and reading industriously pursued under great difficulties and discouragements, and taught wisdom in the rugged but thorough school of experience, James Stainfield of Sugar Grove township, is a man of broad intelligence, keen analytical powers and excellent judgment. He is a native of England, born at Scunthorpe, near the town of Briggs, in Lincolnshire, July 12, 1840.
His parents, James and Betsey (Warton) Stainfield, were also English by nativity, the former born at Scunthorpe and the latter in Appleby. The father passed the whole of his life near his native village, never going many miles from it, and died there in 1890. The mother died at Scunthorpe in 1842. They were the parents of two children, James and John S., the latter of whom died in County Durham, England, where he had been employed for many years as weighmaster for the Carleton Iron Works.
Mr. Stainfield's parents were poor and he had very meager opportuni- ties for obtaining an education, attending school but a few months in all his life. and his father never went to school at all. But the son was studious by nature and yearned for larger stores of the knowledge contained in books,
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of which he had enjoyed but fleeting and tantalizing glimpses. He was obliged to work for a very paltry compensation, but even out of this he managed to save enough for an occasional purchase of a book, and all that he got he devoured with an increasing appetite that grew by what it fed on. He was employed as a farm hand for many years, but grew tired of the exactions of the arduous toil and its meager recompense. So at the age of twenty-three he tried to better his fortunes by going to the north of his native land and taking employment in the ironstone mines. From these mines the rock loos- ened by blasting was lifted four hundred feet and sent to the blast furnaces, where the iron was separated from the stone. The work was very hard and full of danger, and Mr. Stainfield quit it after several months, going to work in the iron mills at Middlesborough. There for a number of years he wrought at the manufacture of iron piping, cylinders, girders, sash weights and castings of various kinds ; then returned to Scunthorpe and again worked in the ironstone mines.
In 1869 he emigrated to the United States and located at Plainfield, Will county, Illinois. In that county he worked as a farm hand for two years, all the time laying his plans for a business and a home of his own and steadily moving toward the realization of his desires. On March 7, 1871, he was married to Miss Mary Baxter, who was born at Wellingborough, Northamp- tonshire, England, and soon afterward took up his residence on a farm which he rented near Plainfield, from which he moved to the farm on which he now lives in section 3, Sugar Grove township, Kane county.
Mrs. Stainfield is a daughter of Samuel and Helen (Jackson) Baxter, both of whom were born and reared in England. Her father died in this county in 1890, the year in which her husband's father died, and but a few months prior to that event. Her mother, sprightly and active at the age of eighty-three, is still living and makes her home with her daughter and son- in-law.
After renting the farm on which he lives for six years Mr. Stainfield bought it in 1882. It then contained one hundred and thirty acres, but he has made additions by subsequent purchases and now owns one hundred and fifty-seven acres. He has built a comfortable and convenient new dwelling for his family, leaving the old house to be occupied by his help on the farm, and he has otherwise greatly improved his property, which is now of con- siderable value and well provided with all the appliances and machinery needed for the proper cultivation of the land and the enjoyment of those who live on it.
Mr. and Mrs. Stainfield are the parents of three children: George II., a resident of Joliet, Illinois: Carrie, the wife of Harry Smith, a prosperous farmer of Sugar Grove township; and Earl R., a young man of nineteen years who is living at home attending school and assisting in the work of the farm. The father has been a school director for fifteen years and is now township school trustee. He is an earnest advocate of general public education and made his faith practical by educating all his children at the Sugar Grove Normal and Industrial school, from which his daughter, Mrs. Harry Smith, was graduated a few years ago. He is a man of great eneregy, enterprise
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and resourcefulness, and has operated his farm very successfully. For twenty years or more he conducted an extensive dairy in addition to his general farming activities. He and his wife take great interest in and contribute essentially to the proceedings of the Sugar Grove Farmers Club, of which they are zealous and valued members.
By his own unaided efforts, through his natural shrewdness, unconquer- able energy and persistent industry and economy, this good man and useful citizen has built his fortunes up from nothing in this western world, and. while doing so, has not been unmindful of the claims of the country and his fellowmen to his consideration. He has borne well his part in reference to all matters of public improvement in his township, here and wherever he has lived in the state, and has given all observers an example of uprightness, dili- gence and thrift worthy of general imitation. He has not spent his strength for naught. He has a present reward in the comfort he enjoys and the material substance which he possesses, in one way, and in the universal regard and good will in which he is held, in another and more gratifying way.
The oldest son of the family, George H. Stainfield, married Miss Mattie Mighl, June 23, 1897, and for several years cultivated a part of his father's farm. He is now a member of the Joliet Steel Construction Company, and is engaged in cement bridge and other construction work. He has two chil- dren, Adrian and Lyle. Harry Smith, husband of the daughter, Carrie Stain- field Smith, is a prominent farmer and the present assessor of Sugar Grove township.
GEORGE RANDALL BAGLEY.
George Randall Bagley, who holds a responsible position with the Elgin National Watch Company, was born on the IIth of July, 1849, in New Hampshire, and is a son of Jacob and Caroline (Woods) Bagley, who spent their entire lives in the east. By occupation the father was a farmer. Our subject was reared to agricultural pursuits and acquired his education in the public schools of his native state. In 1871 he came west and located in Elgin. Illinois, where he accepted a position in the motion department of the Elgin National Watch Company's factory, with which he has since been connected. His fidelity to duty won him promotion and he is now foreman of the job department, having forty men and women working under him.
On the 26th of October, 1878, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Bagley and Miss Jennie L. Pingree, a daughter of Israel S. and Harriet (Thurston ) Pingrec, of Elgin. Her paternal grandfather was Rev. Andrew Pingree, who was born in Rowley. Essex county, Massachusetts, February 17, 1775. In 1838 he became a resident of Kane county, Illinois, casting in his lot with the pioneers of this region, and he took an active and prominent part in its carly development and upbuilding. He was not long permitted to enjoy his new home, however, for he died on the 25th of March. 1846. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Abbie Straw, was born in Weare. New Hampshire, in 1786. Mr. and Mrs. Bagley have become the parents of two children : Verna
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