USA > Illinois > Lee County > History of Lee County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 18
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James B. H. Thornton was reared in Missouri and he re- mained at home until 1861. In that year he enlisted in Company A, Eighth Kansas Volunteer Infantry, and he served for four years, four months and nineteen days in the Civil war. He was appointed captain of Company K, Twelfth Regiment of colored troops, and he served in this capacity for two years and five months. He took part in the battle of Nashville and although he was in the thick of the fight, came out unwounded. He was dis- charged at Nashville, Tennessee, and with a creditable military record returned to Missouri. He remained in that state until 1867 and then came to Lee county, Illinois, where he has since resided. From the beginning he gave his attention to general farming and he has since been identified with agricultural inter- ests here. In 1875 he moved upon the farm which he now owns and its present excellent condition is a visible evidence of the care and labor which he has bestowed upon it. The farm comprises one hundred and twenty acres on section 31, Bradford township,
JAMES B. H. THORNTON
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and is a valuable property in every particular, provided with a comfortable house, substantial barns and outbuildings and modern machinery.
In Lee county Mr. Thornton married Miss Delia E. Shaw, who was born in Bradford township, December 15, 1845. She is a daughter of Sherman and Melinda (De Wolf) Shaw, natives of western New York. The parents went to Michigan in 1836 and in the following year moved to Lee county, Illinois, where in 1839 the father entered from the government the farm now owned by the subject of this review. He made his home upon this prop- erty until 1855, when they moved to Lee Center, where they both passed away. Of the eight children born to their union Mrs. Thornton is the only one now living. Mr. and Mrs. Thornton have become the parents of six children: Adeline D., the wife of Ed- win E. Pomeroy, of Bradford township; Manley P., an attorney at Worthington, Minnesota; Harry F., a resident of Lee county; Alice L. and Edward S., at home, and Florence Alberta, the wife of Erwin Felhauer, of Whiteside county, Illinois. The family at- tend the Congregational church.
Mr. Thornton is connected fraternally with Lee Center Lodge, No. 146, F. & A. M., in which he has been senior warden for two terms. His daughter Alice is a member of the Eastern Star at Franklin Grove and Rebekah Lodge, No. 759, of Lee Center. Mr. Thornton was one of the early settlers in Lee county and he has witnessed a great deal of its development, his own well directed activities being a contributing factor in progress. He has won a degree of success which places him among the men of ability and worth in his community.
R. K. ORTT.
R. K. Ortt, inventor and manufacturer, stands today in the front rank among Dixon's business men, especially in the field of industrial activity. He organized the Clipper Lawn Mower Company for the purpose of manufacturing and selling the Clipper lawn mower which he invented and the Clipper marine and stationary gasoline engines. The business has rapidly developed since its inception and Mr. Ortt has in this connection become widely known. He was born in Niagara, New York, in 1855 and is a son of Elias and Arethusa (Peterson) Ortt.
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The father was an invalid following his service in the Civil war and the mother died when her son, R. K. Ortt, was but nine years old. He then started out in the world on his own account. His advantages and opportunities were limited, but when he found it possible he attended school, early recognizing the value of an education. All through his youth his time was largely occupied with farm work and indeed he was busy in the fields until he attained his majority.
R. K. Ortt early displayed mechanical ingenuity and as he worked he gave much thought to the farm machinery then in use, believing that it might be greatly improved. He took up ac- tive tasks along that line in the improvement of binders and for four years he was superintendent of the assembling and testing department of the Hibbard Gleaner & Binder Company. He was likewise their general agent at Norristown, Pennsylvania. On leaving that firm he became connected with Hebner & Sons of Landsvale, Pennsylvania, developing a cutter and crusher for corn ensilage. His inventive ingenuity at length developed this machine, after which he established a shop in Norristown, for carrying on his experiments. He has taken out fourteen different patents, many of which are of a most valuable character and are now in general use. He had only forty-five dollars when he ob- tained his patent on his lawn mower which he called the Clipper mower. He began manufacturing, but developed the business slowly, his sale for the first year amounting to but twelve; the second year he put upon the market sixty-two mowers; the third year two hundred and seventy-one; the fourth year six hundred and eighty-two and the fifth year one thousand. Thus gradually the business grew and developed along healthful, substantial lines until there is no longer a struggle to maintain a place in the busi- ness world. On the contrary his industry is an extensive and a profitable one.
Mr. Ortt came to Dixon in 1904 and the following year organ- ized the Clipper Lawn Mower Company, which was formed in July, 1905. For a year he leased the factory and in 1906 erected his present plant. The factory today has eighteen thousand square feet of floor space, in addition to which there is a ware- house of four thousand square feet. He employs from ten to twenty-five people, according to the season and in connection with the manufacture of the lawn mower he is engaged in building the Clipper marine and stationary gasoline engines. The mowers are today sold all over the world, the various points of the machine
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being improvements on anything hitherto known. The Clipper mower does not roll down the grass preparatory to cutting it; on the contrary the finger bars and fingers of the mower, as it progresses, gather in the grass with a degree of uniformity in nearly an upright position, and the knives cut it most evenly. High testimonials of the superior efficiency of this mower to others upon the market have been received by Mr. Ortt from all parts of the country, east and west, north and south. The factory is today equipped with the latest improved machinery for the manufac- ture of both the mower and engine. Mr. Ortt claims, and his claim is substantiated in results, that the Clipper engine has more power than any engine made and sold for the same horse power. The best material and the most efficient workmanship is used in the construction of engines and mowers and the durability of both is one of the recommendations for its ready sale. Mr. Ortt now owns a strip of ground two blocks long, one hundred feet deep at one end and sixty-eight feet wide at the other end, to- gether with four other building lots, providing space for factory enlargement. Already his output is four thousand machines a year and the demand is constantly growing.
In 1882 Mr. Ortt was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Mc- Grevey, who died in 1888 and four years later he was married again, Miss Rachel P. Flint of Norristown, Pennsylvania, becom- ing his wife in 1892. There were two sons of the first marriage and one of the second marriage. Mr. Ortt votes with the republi- can party and finds pleasurable recreation through his member- ship in the Elks lodge. He has wisely used the talents with which nature has endowed him and through the exercise of effort his ability has increased and he is today one of the leading representa- tives of industrial activity in Dixon, widely and favorably known as inventor and manufacturer.
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H. O. SHOEMAKER.
H. O. Shoemaker, an enterprising and prosperous young agri- culturist of Amboy township, operating a farm of seventy-five acres on section 6, is a worthy representative of one of the honored pioneer families of Lee county. His birth occurred in this county in 1882, his parents being Jacob and Cora E. Shoemaker. The father, long a prominent and respected citizen of Lee county,
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passed away in 1896 and lies buried in the Temperance Hill ceme- tery of China township. The mother, who was born in Marion township, this county, in 1857, and who now makes her home with our subject, is well known and highly esteemed throughout the community in which she has spent her entire life.
H. O. Shoemaker attended school in his native township un- til fifteen years of age and subsequently assisted his widowed mother in the operation of the home farm in Amboy township, which he at present operates. General agricultural pursuits have claimed his attention throughout his entire business career, and in addition to the raising of cereals he also keeps about eight horses, eighteen head of cattle and forty-five hogs. The residence on the place was erected by his father and is still in excellent condition. In the conduct of his farming interests Mr. Shoemaker has won a measure of success that entitles him to recognition among the representative and enterprising citizens of his native county.
In his political views Mr. Shoemaker is a progressive and a stanch supporter of Theodore Roosevelt. He attends the Evan- gelical church, while fraternally he is identified with the Modern Woodmen of America, belonging to Dixon Camp, No. 56. In the community which has always been his home he is popular with a large circle of friends and acquaintances.
W. J. MCALPINE.
No history of Dixon would be complete if it failed to make prominent mention of W. J. McAlpine, who as a contractor and builder has taken prominent part in the progress and improvement of his adopted city. He has resided in Lee county since 1888 and many of its finest structures stand as monuments to his skill and enterprise. Born in Ashtabula, Ohio, in 1852, Mr. McAlpine is a son of Lemuel and Mary (Price) McAlpine, who came to Illinois in 1853, settling in DeKalb county. The father was a farmer, de- pending upon the tilling of the soil for support for his family. Both he and his wife are now deceased.
W. J. McAlpine was only about a year old when the family ar- rived in this state and his early education was acquired in De- Kalb county where he afterward learned the carpenter's trade, gradually becoming an expert workman along that line. After
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some time spent in the employ of others he began contracting and building on his own account and in 1888 removed to Lee county, from which point he has since directed his operations. Gradually he has worked his way upward until he is today one of the most prominent and successful contractors of this part of the state, doing all kinds of building. He erected the Lee county courthouse in 1901, the state normal school of DeKalb in 1892 and the Dixon National Bank building in 1913. He has built courthouses at various points in Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin and other states and the importance of the contracts awarded him is evidence of his superior skill and ability. Thoroughly acquainted with every phase of practical building, he also understands as well, the great scientific principles which underlie his work and in its execution displays the taste which has ranked architecture among the fine arts.
Mr. McAlpine is a republican in his political views and keeps thoroughly well informed concerning the vital questions and is- sues of the day. While the extent and importance of his busi- ness affairs have brought him wide acquaintance, he is almost equally well known through his Masonic connections. He belongs to the lodge, chapter, commandery and to the Mystic Shrine and is most loyal to the teachings of the craft, exemplifying in his life many of its beneficent principles and purposes. This, how- ever, he regards as but a side issue, concentrating the major por- tion of his time and attention upon building operations in which he has displayed such efficiency that the consensus of public opin- ion ranks him with the foremost contractors of northern Illi- nois.
HENRY SCHNELL.
Among the men of Lee county who have by their own energy, enterprise and rightly directed ambition established themselves in positions of prominence in agricultural circles of the community is numbered Henry Schnell, who during the many years of his residence here has worked his way upward from poverty to pros- perity, his success being indicated in his ownership of one of the finest farms in this locality. Mr. Schnell was born in Germany, April 16, 1866, and is a son of John A. and Margaret Schnell, also natives of that country, where both passed away.
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Henry Schnell remained in Germany until he was seventeen years of age and then came to America, settling almost immedi- ately in Franklin Grove, Lee county, Illinois. He was at that time fifty three dollars in debt, but he soon discharged this ob- ligation out of his wages as a monthly laborer. He continued as a farm hand for seven years and then rented a place in Reynolds township, operating this for eleven years. Following this he pur- chased land on section 20, Ashton township, and upon this prop- erty has since resided. The farm comprises one hundred and twenty acres and is well improved in every particular, being pro- vided with substantial barns and outbuildings and all the acces- sories of a model agricultural property. In addition to general farming Mr. Schnell makes a specialty of raising and feeding stock and he has built up a large business along this line.
On the 7th of December, 1891, Mr. Schnell was united in mar- riage to Miss Mollie Griese, who was born in Reynolds township, this county, a daughter of J. A. and Catharine Griese, natives of Germany. They came to America at an early date and settled in Lee county, where the mother died and where the father still resides. Mr. and Mrs. Schnell have become the parents of a daughter, Dora, who was born April 14, 1893. The parents are members of the Lutheran church and are well known as people of exemplary character. The success which Mr. Schnell today enjoys has been acquired through his own efforts and it places him among the men of prominence and worth in his locality.
BENTON P. DRUMMOND.
Among those who have made a success of agriculture in Lee county is Benton P. Drummond, who was born in Ogle county, Illinois, November 11, 1852, and is a son of Andrew J. and Electa (Martin) Drummond, the father a native of Pennsylvania, born October 20, 1821, and his wife a Canadian. Andrew J. Drum- mond came to Illinois when but seventeen years of age, in 1838, and located in Ogle county, taking up a claim. He lived on this land until retiring from active farm labor and now makes his home with his son, Benton P. To the parents' union six children were born, of whom four are living. The father is a democrat and has held various public offices of local nature. His wife passed away many years ago, her death occurring about 1858.
BENTON P. DRUMMOND, RESIDENCE
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Benton P. Drummond was reared under the parental roof and received his education in the public schools in the neighbor- hood. He remained at home until of age, acquiring under his father a fair knowledge as to the best methods to be pursued in achieving success along agricultural lines. After leaving home he rented land for a number of years and subsequently bought a farm in Ogle county, which he cultivated until he made removal · to Lee county, buying the forty acres upon which he now lives. He also owns a small piece of farm land in Ogle county. Mr. Drummond is entirely successful and is numbered among the progressive farmers of his section. He specializies in feeding cat- tle for the market and has also made a success of raising aspara- gus. His farm is in excellent condition and in its productiveness reflects the care and good management of its owner.
In 1875 Mr. Drummond married Miss Henrietta M. Tilton, who was born in Ogle county, February 12, 1854, and is a daughter of James and Susan (Hardesty) Tilton, natives of Ohio. They came to Illinois during the pioneer period and both passed away in this state. Mrs. Drummond was one of a large family of chil- dren born to her parents. She became the mother of four children: Nora M., born February 26, 1877, who is the wife of E. Shippy, of Ashton; Clarence E., born July 9, 1878; Birdella, born Aug- gust 13, 1880, who is the wife of Carl Alberston, of Rochelle, Illi- nois; and Lucy E., who was born November 14, 1895, and married Ray Olig, of Lee county.
Mr. Drummond is a democrat in his political belief and has always strictly upheld party principles. In 1895 he was appointed postmaster at Ashton under the Cleveland administration and filled this position to the great satisfaction of the general public. He is widely and favorably known in Ashton township and, while he has attained individual success, has been a factor in the general progress and advancement that has made Lee county one of the foremost farm sections of this state.
W. C. JONES.
W. C. Jones, who was the first telegraph messenger in Dixon, is now proprietor of a large general mercantile house and has won a measure of success that indicates how active he has been in the pursuit of his purposes. Dixon is proud of his record as VAL 2-18
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that of one of her native sons, his birth having here occurred in 1859. His parents were William and Agnes Jones, who arrived in Dixon in the '40s when the town was little more than a village and gave but slight promise of becoming the enterprising center of trade which it is today. Here the father engaged in the transfer business until the time of his death and the mother is still living at the age of eighty-four years. They had a family of four sons and four daughters, who reached adult age.
W. C. Jones was a public school pupil in Dixon and in early life started out to earn his living, becoming, as previously stated, the first telegraph messenger boy in the town. Some of his fellow townsmen today remember him in that service and have watched with interest his advancement along business lines. He learned telegraphy and was afterward appointed operator at Dimmick, Illinois, when but nineteen years of age. He did not hold the position, however, but jumping on the train as it started away, went to other fields, having changed his mind concerning teleg- raphy as a life work. He next obtained a position as clerk in the store of Stephens & Pankhurst, where he remained for a short time and subsequently he entered the draying business, which he followed for nine years, having the first double truck in Dixon. In 1887 he established a small grocery store upon a capital of four hundred dollars and in 1895 he erected a new building forty by ninety feet and two stories in height to accommodate his stock. As time passed on he extended the scope of his business and is proprietor of a large general store which is one of the leading mercantile establishments of the city. He has carefully watched all the details, noted the indications pointing to success and has followed the methods seeming to promise bright results. Study- ing the trade, maintaining honorable business methods and reasonable prices, his success has grown year by year and he is now one of the substantial merchants of the city. At one time he was also secretary of the Fletcher Manufacturing Company, from which he resigned. He was the first man authorized as post- master of a subpostal station to handle the parcel post.
On the 31st of October, 1883, Mr. Jones was united in marriage to Miss Gertrude Woolley, a daughter of W. C. Woolley, who was station agent at Dixon for the Illinois Central Railroad for thirty-seven years. He also helped build the road into the town and was one of the pioneer settlers here. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Jones have been born two sons and two daughters.
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In his fraternal relations Mr. Jones is an Elk, while politically he is a republican. For six years he served as township super- visor and for a similar period was a member of the board of edu- cation, proving capable and loyal in both offices. His record as a business man and citizen is creditable and proves what may be accomplished when one has the will to dare and to do. While a telegraph messenger Mr. Jones delivered telegrams to Father Dixon, founder of the city. It is a far reach from service as tele- graph messenger to the proprietorship of one of the leading mer- cantile establishments but determined purpose, unfaltering energy and straightforward methods have brought Mr. Jones to the posi- tion which he occupies and his record proves that prosperity and an honored name may be won simultaneously.
J. A. FORREST.
J. A. Forrest is president of the Dixon Cereal & Feed Com- pany and thus active in the development and management of one of the most important productive industries of the city. He is a young man, but has already attained a creditable and enviable place in commercial circles. A native of Chicago, he was born in 1879, and is a son of John and Elizabeth (Sutherland) Forrest, both of whom were natives of Scotland. In early life they crossed the Atlantic to the new world, becoming residents of Chi- cago in 1869. The father was there actively engaged in the oat- meal business for a number of years, but is now living retired and makes his home in Dixon.
In his youthful days J. A. Forrest devoted his time largely to the mastery of those branches of learning which constitute the curriculum of the public schools of Chicago. He was a young man of about twenty-three years when in 1902 he came to Dixon and organized the Dixon Cereal Company for the manufacture of corn products, including corn meal and brewers' grits, the out- put being sold largely in South America. From the beginning ·the undertaking prospered owing to the capable management and progressive business methods of the founder and, extending his efforts into other fields, he also organized the Forrest-Utley Company, which operated eight years as a wholesale feed busi- ness. In 1913 the two companies went out of business and the Dixon Cereal & Feed Company was organized and purchased the
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plant of the Dixon Cereal Company, at which time the capacity was increased to two thousand bushels of corn per day. The product goes to South America, Cuba and the West Indies, and the business from its organization has been a profitable one, founded as it was, upon the broad experience and enterprising .methods of Mr. Forrest. He is president of the company with H. T. Noble as secretary and treasurer. They occupy a building one hundred and twenty by seventy-five feet and employment is fur- nished to fifteen men. A wholesale feed business is conducted in connection and the enterprise has become one of the foremost productive industries of Dixon.
In 1903 Mr. Forrest married Miss Alice Josephine Langdon of Dixon and they have become the parents of three children. Mr. Forrest is an Elk and in politics is independent. He thoroughly enjoys home life and takes great pleasure in the society of his family and friends. His success in business from the beginning of his residence in Dixon has been uniform and rapid and his life record indicates what may be accomplished when energy and determination lead the way.
HARRY A. ROE.
Harry A. Roe, of H. A. Roe Company, Lee county abstracters, suite 1 and 2, Dixon National Bank building, Dixon, Illinois, is engaged in conducting a farm loan district agency and abstract of title business, which line he has conducted since 1904, meeting with growing success. He was born in Bloomington, Illinois, April 8, 1874, a son of Dr. Nathaniel C. and Florence R. Roe-the former a native of Vermont and the latter of Pennsylvania. In early life they came to Illinois with their respective parents and were pioneer settlers of Franklin Grove, Lee county. The father prepared for the medical profession and engaged in practice and medical manufacturing in this county for many years, where he followed his profession until his life's labors were ended, his wife preceding him in death. They were counted worthy and valued residents of the community, their many good qualities of heart and mind endearing them to those with whom they came in con- tact.
After attending the public and high schools of this county, Harry A. Roe continued his education in the Spencerian Uni-
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versity of Cleveland, Ohio, in which he was a student for four years. He afterwards spent four years in Chicago, serving in the capacity of bookkeeper, and in December, 1896, he came to Dixon to accept the appointment of deputy circuit clerk and: recorder, serving, respectively, under Arvine S .. Hyde, Ira W: Lewis and William B. McMahan, until 1904. He then established his present business, handling large farm loans and compiling abstracts of title. He has secured a good clientele in this connec- tion throughout northern Illinois and his business is one of grow- ing importance. Mr. Roe is largely interested in the financial affairs of Lee county, owning extensive holdings in the large banks of the county.
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