History of La Salle County, Illinois, Part 99

Author: Hoffman, U. J. (Urias John), b. 1855
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > Illinois > LaSalle County > History of La Salle County, Illinois > Part 99

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JOHN BUTTERS.

John Butters, now living retired from active business life in Ottawa, is a native of Scotland, his birth having occurred in Forfarshire in 1831. He was reared under the parental roof in his native country and came alone to America. In Scotland he learned the machinist's trade, serv- ing a five years' apprenticeship and gained a thorough knowledge of the business in its vari- ous departments. He crossed the Atlantic in 1856, attracted by the business possibilities of the new world, and made his way to Richmond, Virginia, where he resided until the outbreak of hostilities between the north and the south. He was not in sympathy with the attitude of the secession states and when the war broke out ran the blockade and made his way to St. Louis, Missouri. There he followed the machinist's trade until 1869, when he came to La Salle coun- ty, where he has since resided. In that year he abandoned mechanical pursuits and located upon a farm in Prairie Center, where he engaged in the tilling of the soil until 1884. He still

owns that property, having for thirty years held it in his possession, and for a considerable period he carefully and successfully conducted the work of the fields. . For twenty-two years, however, he has resided in Ottawa and in connection with Mr. Stiefel established the electric light plant, theirs being the second of the kind built in Otta- wa. They began business in 1885, supplying light for the city and for many public and private buildings. They were thus engaged for a num- ber of years but finally sold out. Mr. Butters afterward became engineer for the Stiefel Manu- facturing plant, filling that position for twelve years, since which time he has lived retired, oc- cupying a beautiful home at No. 617 Shabbona street in East Ottawa, which he erected.

Mr. Butters was married in St. Louis, Mis- souri, to Miss Margaret Miller, also a native of Scotland, who came to America in her early girlhood days. They now have six children, all of whom are living: Agnes S., who is a teacher in the Lincoln school at Ottawa and resides at home ; Ida M., who is clerking in the store of Engle & Edmunds in Ottawa; Alice, who is assistant to a physician of this city ; Thomas, as- sistant attorney for the Chicago Terminal Trans- fer Railroad Company, Chicago; Charles, who is bookkeeper for the same company; and George, a stenographer for the Yazoo & Missis- sippi Valley Railroad of Vicksburg, Mississippi.

In his political affiliation Mr. Butters is a dem- ocrat. He has resided continuously in La Salle county for more than a third of a century and for twenty-two years has lived in Ottawa, where his business activity and personal traits of char- acter have made him well known. He has never had occasion to regret his determination to come to the new world and has demonstrated by his loyalty to his adopted country and her institu- tions that nationality or birth does not deter- mine in this land, either in spirit or degree, the loftiest patriotism or the truest conception of the American idea of the "common brotherhood of man."

MYRON WOOLLEY.

Myron Woolley, proprietor of a drug store in Streator, was born September 26, 1851, in Eden township, La Salle county. His father, Dr. Mil- ton Woolley, was a practicing physician and sur- geon and was born in New York, near Pough- keepsie. on the 25th of January, 1809. He was descended from Quaker ancestry and in early manhood he wedded Margaret Dodge, who was born in the Empire state October 16. 1821, and is descended from the Rev. Tristram Dodge, a

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prominent Baptist divine of an early day. In the year 1849 Dr. and Mrs. Woolley removed from New York to Illinois and became early residents of La Salle county. For some time they made their home upon a farm in Eden town- ship. Dr. Woolley passed away July 25, 1885. while Mrs. Woolley departed this life October 15, 190I. In their family were eight children, four sons and four daughters, of whom seven are now living: Mary; Martha, the wife of Charles H. Parrish, a resident of Kansas; Myron, of this review; William W., who is a resident of Streator; John J., who is proprietor of a laundry in Streator ; Eliza J., also living in Streator; and Dr. Ida M. Woolley, who is lo- cated in Bloomington in the practice of medi- cine. The youngest son, Robert D. Woolley, after graduating from Lombard College, devoted his attention to the profession of teaching and at the time of his death, which occurred in 1897, was principal of the high school at Streator.

Myron Woolley is indebted to the public schools for the educational advantages which he obtained in his youth. He became a registered pharmacist in 1881 and was admitted to the bar in 1896. He has never, however, engaged in the practice of law and in more recent years has largely devoted his attention to merchandising. For eleven years, however, he engaged in farming in Livingston county, Illinois. In 1880 he re- moved to Streator and engaged in the drug busi- ness in partnership with his father, the late Dr. Woolley, who retired four years later, when the present firm of Woolley Brothers was formed, the partners being William W. and Myron Woolley. They are still conducting the store in Streator and have a well appointed establish- ment, carrying a large line of drugs and kindred goods. The tasteful arrangement of their store, their straightforward business methods and their earnest desire to please their customers have se- cured to them a liberal patronage.

On the 25th of July, 1902, Mr. Woolley was united in marriage to Miss Addie L. Healy, the wedding being celebrated near Pensacola, Flori- da. Mrs. Woolley was a daughter of Sylvester L. Healy, who was a contractor and built the Streator high school, the Park Presbyterian church and many other public and private struc- tures in Streator and elsewhere. He also clerked in a grocery store in St. Louis for a year or more. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Woolley was born a daughter, Blanche, on the 26th of May, 1903. Two days later Mrs. Woolley passed away and was buried on the Ist of June in the Streator cemetery. The little daughter survived her mother eight months and passed away January 14, 1904.

In his political views Mr. Woolley is a stal- wart republican and for twenty-nine years he has been a Mason in good standing, having joined the order in Schell City, Missouri. In the conduct of his business interests in Streator he has made an excellent reputation and has a wide acquaintance in the county of his nativity . where almost his entire life has been passed.

CORNELIUS KINNEY SMITH.

Cornelius Kinney Smith, now living retired in Ottawa, is a son of Aaron Burr and Eliza L. (Erwin) Smith. The father was born near Mor- ristown, New Jersey, and is of French lineage, the progenitor of the family in America coming to this country from Alsace-Lorraine, a province of France, in 1766. He established an iron forge at Walnut Grove near Morristown, New Jersey, and for many years the family has been repre- sentated in that part of the country. The mother of our subject was born in Vermont and was reared in Oswego, New York. She was of Scotch-Irish lineage. In 1846 Mr. and Mrs. Smith came to Ottawa and here Mr. Smith built a store and established a tailoring business on the present site of the National City Bank on Madison street. The building, however, was destroyed by fire in 1819. In the previous year he had been elected to the office of justice of the peace and served almost continuously in that position for forty years. What a splendid record ! It indicates as no words can do the fact of his fidelity, his fair and impartial decisions and the entire confidence reposed in him by his fellow- men. He was with others a prime mover in es- tablishing the public-school system in Ottawa and was an active participant in public affairs in the city and county, being a pioneer of progress and writing his name upon the pages of the his- tory of the county. He passed away in 1887, honored and respected by all who knew him. In his family were eight children, the daughters being Nan M ... Mrs. Anna E. Searing, Mrs. Emma L. Calkins and Mrs. Alice B. Wood, all of Chicago; Edna M., of Minneapolis ; and Jennie M .. of Chicago. The brother of our subject is James A. Smith, a prominent democrat of Chats- worth, Illinois, who has represented his district in the state legislature. He is now the publisher of the Chatsworth Plain Dealer and a grain mer- chant and large landowner.

Cornelius Kinney Smith was born in Ohio and was reared in Ottawa, pursuing his early education in the private school before the estab-

C. KINNEY SMITH.

MRS. C. KINNEY SMITH.

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lishment of the present public schools, which he attended until 1857. In 1854, however, he entered the employ of the Illinois & Mississippi Telegraph Company, controlled by Judge J. D. Caton, and learned telegraphy under the imme- diate supervision of A. N. Tuttle and Dr. E. A. Hill, thus entering upon a career as a telegraph operator which extended over many years and gained him distinction in that line. He managed offices in various cities in Illinois, including Rush- ville, Beardstown, Peoria, Joliet, Elgin, Bloom- ington, Galesburg, Urbana, Kankakee, Decatur, Centralia, Cairo and Ottawa. At the time of the outbreak of the Civil war he was engaged in the flour milling business with his father as proprie -. tor of the old City Mill at the foot of La Salle street, but his patriotic spirit was aroused, and, feeling that his first duty was to his country, he enlisted for service in Captain Theodore Gib- son's company. Before the departure of that command for the front, however, he was selected by Judge Caton as telegraph operator in the army service and his appointment came from Governor Yates in the following :

Springfield, Illinois, April 26, 1861.

To Commandant of Post at Big Muddy Bridge, Illinois :

The bearer of this, Mr. C. K. Smith, telegraph operator, has been directed by Mr. Wilson, super- intendent of telegraph company at this point, to establish an office there for the benefit of the government. You will provide for him in the best possible manner and do everything for the successful accomplishment of the object he is sent for. Notify officers in command at Cairo.

Yours respectfully, Richard Yates, Commander-in-Chief.

It is claimed that this was the first appoint- ment made of an army telegrapher in the entire Union service. Mr. Smith served for three months and then came home, but was later sent for and returned to the front. He served in north Missouri for several months under Generals Prentice and Pope.

After leaving the military service Mr. Smith entered the employ of the Western Union Tele- graph Company at Chicago, where he established a record as an expert operator in those stren- uous times when the telegraph companies were taxed to their utmost capacity to handle the business of the government and the country. In 1863 he made his way to New York city, where he was in the employ of the same company, which had just acquired the national wires from New York to Pittsburg, Cincinnati and New

Orleans. A strong rivalry existed between the American Telegraph Company and the Western Union and this afforded Mr. Smith the oppor- tunity to take and work the leading wire in New York and the country, which he maintained so successfully that he was chosen assistant man- ager of the combined Western Union and Ameri- can Telegraph office in New York, acting in that important capacity until 1868, when he resigned and went west to Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he served for a year. In 1869 he returned to New York to become manager of the Atlantic & Pacific Telegraph Company, where he remained until he was chosen superintendent of the Fire Alarm Telegraph of the fire department, serving some four years and retiring with great credit for the improvement in the signals and special calls which he inaugurated and which are now in use there and in all the large cities of the country. In 1876 he entered the service of Drexel, Morgan & Company, bankers of New York and Philadel- phia, as confidential operator, thus serving for thirty-one' years and retiring on a pension in 1905. It would be almost tautological in this connection to state that Mr. Smith became one of the foremost representatives of operative teleg- raphy in America, for this has been shadowed forth between the lines of this review. From 1884 until 1893 he served as secretary of the Business Men's Democratic Association of New York, and he also served as secretary of the Democratic Club of Richmond Hill, Long Island.

Mr. Smith was married in Ottawa in 1887 to Miss Edith Morgan and for eighteen years they resided in New York until their return in 1905 to make this city their future home. Both have many friends here and are gladly welcomed backed to La Salle county, where their early years were passed.

BENOIT CHALUS.

The history of Benoit Chalus, of Waltham township, should serve as a source of inspira- tion and encouragement to others, showing what may be accomplished when one has determina- tion, energy and strong purpose. He came to America about 1850, knowing little of the lan- guage or of the customs of this country and hav- ing limited capital but he soon realized that labor is the basis of all success here and his un- tiring industry has been the key which has un- locked to him the portals of prosperity. He is now living on section 36, Waltham township, where he has valuable farming property. His

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fortune has not been gained through speculation but is all due to farming conducted along careful yet progressive lines.

Mr. Chalus was born in France, April I, 1840, and spent the days of his boyhood and youth in his native country, coming to Ottawa, Illinois, in 1860, where he began working on a farm by the month, after which he rented a farm and began business on his own account.

Benoit Chalus was married to Miss Fannie Hess. She is a sister of Prospect and Fred Hess and a representative of an early frontier family of this part of the state, the Hess fam- ily having arrived in 1857. Unto this marriage have been born six children: Ernest, who is now living with his father; Edwin, who married Eliza Ganiere ; Julian, who married Ida Dewey ; Mary, the wife of John Modhz, a resident of Ottawa ; Louise ; and Fannie, at home.

Mr. Chalus as the years have passed by has carefully conducted his farming and business interests and is now the owner of four hundred and eighty acres of valuable farm land in Waltham and Utica townships, all of which is improved and under a high state of cultivation. The fences and buildings have all been placed there by him and everything about the farm in- dicates his careful supervision and practical yet progressive methods. He has retired from active farm work, while his sons now operate the land. He owes his success almost entirely to the grow- ing of grain, the rich alluvial soil of this part of the state responding readily to the care and cultivation bestowed upon it. In his political views Mr. Chalus is independent. He has seen La Salle county developed from a frontier set- tlement to its present condition of progress and improvement and as the years have gone by has rejoiced in what has been accomplished and has co-operated in many movements that have been of direct benefit to the locality. He has worked his way steadily upward, realizing that success is not a matter of genius but is the outcome of clear judgment and experience, sup- plemented by earnest, indefatigable labor. Mr. Chalus has served as school director at different times.

GEORGE W. DE BOLT.

George W. De Bolt, who since the spring of 1864 has resided upon his present farm on sec- tion 6, Dayton township, has here one hundred and sixty-two acres of rich and productive land, in the midst of which stands a large residence with barns and other buildings near by. All of these improvements he has placed here and the farm in its neat and thrifty appearance is

the visible evidence of his life of enterprise and careful management. Mr. De Bolt has passed the psalmist's span of three score years and ten, having been born on the IIth of June, 1833, in Rutland township, La Salle county. He is there- fore one of its oldest native settlers, for at the time of his birth there were broad stretches of wild and undeveloped prairie throughout the northern part of Illinois. Deer were frequently seen and lesser game could be had in large numbers. Comparatively few roads had been laid out in the county and the methods of trans- portation were very crude when compared with the travel of the present day.

Amid pioneer surroundings Mr. De Bolt was reared in the home of his father, Rezin De Bolt, who was born in Licking county, Ohio, December 11, 1806, and died in Rutland town- ship on the 22d of April, 1887. The mother, who bore the maiden name of Emma Grove, was born in Ohio and died in Rutland township

when her son George was only ten years of age. The parents had come to Illinois in 1829, settling in La Salle county with the Greens, the Dono- vans and the Groves and other well known pioneer families of this portion of the state. The country was all wild and undeveloped and the Indians were far more numerous than the white settlers. Much of the state was still used by them as a hunting ground and at times they were troublesome. At length, resenting the en- croachment of the white men upon what they regarded as their territory, they rose in arms and there ensued what has become known in history as the Black Hawk war, which occurred in 1832. In this struggle Rezin De Bolt took part and thus aided in reclaiming the land from the dominion of the red race and in planting the seeds of civilization here. Following his re- moval to La Salle county he entered land from the government and on that tract erected the first home in what is now Rutland township. He continued to reside upon the farm until his death and in the meantime added to his property as his financial resources increased until he was the owner of between four and five hundred acres at the time of his demise. Having lost his first wife, he had married Mrs. Elizabeth Musselman, nee Richerson, the widow of Noah Musselman. She was born in Washington county, Maryland, December 14, 1820, and sur- vived her husband for about seven years, passing away on the 5th of November, 1894. Mr. De Bolt voted with the democracy but was not a politician, although he held some minor offices. When his neighbors went to California during the gold excitement on the Pacific slope he re- mained upon his farm and made more money

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in that way than many who went west from his neighborhood. He belonged to no church but was a man of high principles. He posses- sed sound judgment and was quite successful in the conduct of his business affairs, being well known as an extensive farmer and cattle-raiser.

By his first marriage he had eight children, of whom two died in infancy, while six reached adult age, namely: John, who enlisted for ser- vice in the Civil war as a member of the One Hundred and Fourth Illinois Infantry and was killed while carrying a message for Dr. Lyons in Missouri; Barbara, the deceased wife of D. W. Conard, of Rutland township; George W .; Cyrus, deceased, who married Elizabeth Dono- van and lived in Rutland township; Mrs. Lavina Bounds, whose home is in Ohio; and Elma, the widow of Wilson Huff, a resident of Kansas. Unto the father's second marriage were born three children: James Madison, who married Emeline G. Curyea and is living in the village of Wedron; Emily, who is the widow of John Perrot and resides in Ottawa; and Frank, liv- ing on the home farm in Rutland township.

George W. De Bolt spent the first thirty years of his life on the old homestead farm, where he attended the country schools, and after putting aside his text-books he worked in the fields with the hired men, being thus employed by his father until the first three decades of his life had passed. He was then married to Miss Mary E. Sutton, a native of Licking county, Ohio, who died in the year 1877. Unto them were born two children: Fannie, the wife of G. B. McClel- lan Curyea, a resident of Kansas ; and Mamie, the wife of Frank E. Terry, a real-estate dealer of Chicago. In 1880, Mr. De Bolt was again married, Mrs. Rachel (Spradling) Pitzer, a widow, who was born in Indiana, becoming his wife.

In the spring of 1864, Mr. De Bolt purchased one hundred and twenty acres of land, where- on he has since made his home and has a well improved property. He has extended its boun- daries by additional purchase and now has one hundred and sixty-two acres in the home place, of which one hundred and twenty-two acres is rich and arable, while forty acres is timber. His home is a large and commodious residence and there are substantial buildings upon his place, which were erected by him and which in their neat and well kept appearance indicate his care- ful supervision. Few men of his age have been born in this county and he recalls many inter- esting early experiences concerning the times when he made trips to Chicago with stock and grain and when there were many hardships and privations to be borne incident to the fact that

this was a frontier district. He remembers hear- ing his father tell of how the women melted pewter dishes and made bullets in order that their husbands and fathers might use them in fighting the Indians. He has performed his farm work with the primitive machinery of the olden times and as invention has given new and improved agricultural implements he has kept abreast with the general progress and develop- ment. He has always been a lover of horses . and has raised a great many, always breaking his own colts. He has found that kindness and careful management have been the best method of producing a well broken horse rather than · force and rough handling. He is a gentleman of sound business judgment and keen discrimi- nation as well as unfaltering energy and dis- plays diligence and enterprise equal to that of many a man of much younger years. He owns a good bicycle and is an adept at riding it, even though he has passed the seventy-third milestone on life's journey.

In politics Mr. De Bolt is an independent voter, casting his ballot for the candidate whom he regards as best qualified for office. He has served as road commissioner, supervisor, school director and in other local positions. He has never belonged to any church but his life has been actuated by high and honorable principles and all speak of him in terms of respect and confidence. As a successful business man, as one who is loyal to the general welfare and as an honored pioneer settler, he certainly deserves mention in this volume.

J. NICHOLAS MARCO.

J. Nicholas Marco, living on section 7, Serena township, is one of the progressive and enterpris- ing farmers of La Salle county and owner of the Elysian Villa farm, which comprises one hun- dred and sixty-three acres. It is a neat and well improved tract of land equipped with all modern conveniences, indicating the careful supervision of the owner.

Mr. Marco is a native son of Illinois, having been born in Serena township, on the 21st day of August, 1869. His father, J. Marco, was a native of France, born in Alsace, where he was reared. When a young man he came to Illi- nois and was married in La Salle county to Miss Christina Stauffer, also a native of Alsace. He was one of the early settlers of the county, tak- ing up his abode in Serena township, where he opened up a farm. There he carried on agri- cultural pursuits for a number of years, having

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about two hundred acres of land, which he placed under a high state of cultivation. Subsequently he removed to Somonauk, where, putting aside business cares, he lived retired, selling his farm to his sons. As an enterprising early settler he contributed to the growth and progress of this section of the state, especially along lines of agri- cultural development.

J. N. Marco was reared upon the home farm and acquired his primary education in the com- mon schools. When a young man he went east to Niagara Falls, where he attended Niagara University, spending one year as a student in that institution .. On the expiration of that period he returned home and took charge of a creamery at Serena, Illinois, where he remained for four years. He next worked in a meat mar- ket at Sheridan for two years, learning the busi- ness, and when the period had elapsed estab- lished a meat market of his own in Millington, where he conducted the business with good suc- cess for eight years. Selling out he removed to Sandwich, where he bought a place of ten acres and for two years thereafter lived retired from active business cares. He had bought and owned three farms and he also had his place of ten acres at Sandwich. While living there he traded for the place upon which he now resides, locating thereon in 1903. His property, the Elysian Villa farm, he at once began to improve and has built to and remodeled the house, having now a pleasant and neat residence. There is a beautiful and well kept lawn in front of the house with broad walks of cement and the lawn is adorned with fine shrubs and trees. He has also built good barns and has other well im- proved outbuildings for the shelter of grain and stock. Everything is kept up in neat condi- tion and the farm is enclosed with net wire fenc -. ing, which makes it impossible for the hogs and other stock to escape. The land is divided into fields of convenient size of from fifteen to twen- ty-five acres and indeed this is one of the best improved farms in the township, presenting a most attractive appearance in its neat arrange- ment, with substantial outbuildings and highly cultivated field. In connection with the tilling of the soil he raises Cotswold and Lancaster sheep, having a flock of nearly four hundred.

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History of La Salle County, Illinois, Part 99

Author: Hoffman, U. J. (Urias John), b. 1855 Publication date: 1906 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Hoffman, U. J. (Urias John), b. 1855
Publication date: 1906
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Pub. Co.
Number of Pages: 1286