History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., Part 20

Author: Hill, H.H. (Chicago) pbl
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, H.H. Hill
Number of Pages: 910

USA > Illinois > Lee County > History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc. > Part 20

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

204

HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

gust he formed a partnership with Hon. J. K. Edsall, and resumed the practice of law. The firm was dissolved in 1872, Mr. Edsall having been elected attorney-general of the state, and Mr. Bardwell has since continued to practice alone. He was married in 1871, to Miss Clara C. Utley, daughter of Joseph Utley, Esq., of Dixon, and has one son, Henry W. Bardwell, nine years of age. Though a comparatively young man, Mr. Bardwell occupies an enviable position among his professional brethren, and citizens generally, both as a lawyer and a man.

A. CLINTON WARNER, deputy county treasurer, Dixon, was born in New Preston, Connecticut, April 3, 1850. He is the son of L. A. and Sarah D. Warner, of Freeport, Illinois, with whom he came west in 1855. He spent his youth at Freeport, obtaining a very liberal educa- tion in the schools of that city. In 1867 he entered the office of the county clerk, as deputy, of Stephenson county, of which Freeport is the county seat. He remained there until 1871, when he came to Dixon, where he was immediately employed as deputy in the county clerk's office. A little later he was given charge of the office of county treasurer, as deputy, under treasurer Josiah Little, and in connection with this he is now engaged. In May, 1878, he was licensed by the supreme court an attorney-at-law, but has not sought to engage in a general practice. He is a prominent stockholder, and a director in the Dixon national bank, at Dixon, and during the past few years has handled more real estate than any other man in Lee county. In De- cember, 1875, he was married to Miss Myra O. Brookner, a lady of one of the oldest and most respected families in Dixon. They have three children, all boys. Mr. Warner is a member of the Methodist Episco- pal church, and a warm friend of Sunday-schools. He is a man of re- fined tastes and correct habits, an energetic student, combined with active and growing business qualities. He is an independent republican.

GEORGE STEEL, capitalist, Dixon, was born at Lockport, Illinois, May 10, 1842, and was the son of George and Annie ( Morrison) Steel. The elder Mr. Steel and his wife were both natives of Scotland. He was a contractor, and in that capacity was connected with many of the great enterprises of the northwest, such as the Welland canal, the Illi- nois and Michigan canal, the dredging of the Chicago river, etc. In a building owned by him the first informal meeting of the Board of Trade of Chicago was held. He was one of the original directors of the Ga- lena division of the Chicago & Northwestern railroad. He built the first elevator at Chicago, and was one of the first to engage in the pack- ing business, and in the lake trade. At the organization of the St. Andrew's Society of Chicago he was elected its president. He was a large real-estate owner, and erected many buildings. Death brought his active and prosperous career to a close on March 22, 1865, at the

yours truly Henry & noble

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR. LENOX AND TILDEN GRADATIONS

207

DIXON TOWNSHIP.

age of sixty-seven. His son, George Steel, removed with his parents to Chicago in 1844, where he was brought up. He was educated at Mount Pleasant Academy, Sing Sing, New York, and Racine College, Racine, Wisconsin, and also attended the Chicago law college. He studied law for a time in the office of Hoyne, Miller & Lewis, of Chicago, but about 1861, becoming interested in railroad matters, he turned his attention to that line of business for about five years. He then became engaged in contracts for street pavements in Chicago and Cleveland, and also in the building of the lake tunnel in the former city, and at the same time was considerably interested in mining developments. Mr. Steel came to Dixon first in 1873, and has since been engaged in various enter- prises in this vicinity. He was married July 11, 1871, to Miss Louise P. Van Epps, and has three children : Willie, aged ten, Annie, aged six, and an infant daughter. Mr. Steel is independent in political affairs, and is a member of the Presbyterian church.

ISSAC S. BOARDMAN, real estate dealer, Dixon, was born in Tioga county, New York, January 3, 1816, and is the son of Isaac S. and Abigail (Saltmarsh) Boardman. His father kept a public-house in Tioga county for over a quarter of a century, and was post-master of his town for more than twenty-seven years. Mr. Boardman left home at the age of sixteen, going to Bath, New York, where he clerked in a dry-goods store for six years. He then made arrangements to go into business in connection with his brother-in-law Mr. S. M. Bowman, and they resolved to locate at Dixon. Purchasing a stock of goods at New York and Philadelphia, which at that early day were shipped by way of Pittsburgh and the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, they arrived at Dixon in May 1837, and commenced business. At the organization of Lee county in 1838 Mr. Boardman was elected county elerk and served four years. Just before the expiration of his term of service he resigned and purchased a flouring-mill in Ogle county, which he operated until 1849, when he sold out and returned to Dixon, and was soon after elected to the office of clerk of the circuit court, which posi- tion he held for seven years. During this time he had purchased the " Republican and Telegraph," published at Dixon, and conducted that paper for about ten years, under the name of the "Dixon Telegraph." About 1868 Mr. Boardman retired from the active management of his paper, and placed it in the hands of his sons John D. and William, who had just graduated from the University of Michigan, and since that time Mr. Boardman's only connection with active business has been in looking after his large real-estate interests. He was married in 1840 to Miss Mary L. Dixon, a daughter of Father Dixon. She died in 1850, leaving three children. The eldest, Mary E., married Charles C. Pinckney, Esq., and is now residing at Denver, Colorado.

208

HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

John D., the eldest son, was a graduate of the law department of the University of Michigan, and having become interested in mining in Arizona was killed there by a desperado in a dispute over a contested claim. William, the second son, after severing his connection with the "Dixon Telegraph," removed to Chicago to take charge of the business management of the "Rail Road Gazette." After the great fire the place of publication was transferred to New York city, and it is now very prosperous. Mr. Boardman was married a second time in 1854, to Miss Anna C. Campbell, of Mount Morris, Illinois. She died in 1863, leaving one daughter, now eighteen years of age. Mr. Boardman cast his first vote for Gen. Harrison, and for more than forty years has been an active whig and republican.

JOSEPH UTLEY, merchant, Dixon, was born in Western, Oneida county, New York, on July 27, 1815, and is the son of Henry and Sarah (Morse) Utley, and obtained his education at the schools in the neighborhood. After completing an academical course he entered his father's establishment, where he learned the trade of a tanner. He suc- ceeded to his father's business in 183S and carried on the same until 1859, in which year he removed to Dixon and opened a saddlery and hardware store, which he continued until 1867, when he turned over the business to his eldest son and has not since been actively engaged in business. . He lias for many years been much interested in the matter of cheap transportation, and has been prominently connected with the canals of this state, and in 1869 was appointed by Gov. Pal- mer a canal commissioner, holding that position until 1877, and most of the time was president of the board of canal commissioners. Mr. Utley was married in 1838 to Miss Frances Church, daughter of Seth Church, Esq., of Western, Oneida county, New York. They have three children : E. B. Utley, aged forty years, who is engaged in the sad- dlery-hardware and leather business at Dixon; Clara, aged thirty-seven years, and wife of A. C. Bardwell, a prominent attorney of Dixon, and Dr. J. H. Utley, aged thirty-four years, and now practicing his profession in Dixon. Politically Mr. Utley is a stalwart republican, and is a member of the Presbyterian church.

HON. JOHN V. EUSTACE, judge of the circuit court of the thirteenth judicial district, was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, September 9, 1821, and is the son of Thomas and Fannie (Olmsted) Eustace. His father and grandfather were both clergymen belonging to the Presbyterian denomination, the former being born in Dublin in 1797, migrating to America and first locating in Philadelphia, where he remained until 1839, when he removed to St. Louis, where he died from cholera in 1847. On the maternal side Judge E. is a descendant of Rev. Jonathan Ingersoll, who for thirty-seven years before the revo-

209

DIXON TOWNSHIP.

lution was the Presbyterian minister of Ridgefield, Conn. She married Ebenezer Olinstead, who was a colonel in the Connecticut line during that war. Her brother was the first lieutenant-governor of that state. Judge Eustace was educated at Philadelphia, graduating from the Uni- versity of Pennsylvania in the summer of 1839. Soon after the family removed to St. Louis, where he entered the office of Hon. Charles D. Drake (now chief justice of the court of claims, Washington), as a law student, and was admitted to practice before reaching his twentieth year. He became a partner of Mr. Drake for a short time, but in 1843 removed to Dixon, where he practiced with much success until 1857, when he was elected judge of the circuit court upon its first establish- ment, but resigned before serving his full term, and resumed the prac- tice of his profession. In 1861 he was appointed provost-marshal of the district, which position he held until the close of the war. He then became a member of the firm of Eustace, Barge & Dixon, which con- tinued for several years, and in 1877 was again elected judge of the cir- cuit court, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Judge W. W. Hea- ton, and in 1879 was reelected for a full term of six years. He has also served in the state legislature and as a presidential elector, and in 1876 was the democratic candidate for attorny-general of Illinois, but was defeated along with the balance of the ticket. Judge Enstace was married at St. Louis in 1843, to Miss Anna M. Smith, and has four children : Fannie, born in Dixon, who is married to Henry W. Gree- tham and residing in Dixon ; Thomas H., born in Dixon and now in the employ of a manufacturing firm at Freeport, Illinois; Elizabeth, born in Dixon, and married to Mr. John L. Orvis, of Dixon, and John V. jr., born in Dixon and now practicing law at Rockford, Illinois. In his political affiliations the judge is a democrat, but enjoys the esteem and confidence of his fellow citizens, without regard to party lines, as an able and upright expounder of the law.

LESTER D. PITCHER, dealer in agricultural implements, Dixon, was born in Lewis county, New York, July 28, 1839, and is the son of Philander and Mary (Agen) Pitcher. After leaving school he worked upon his father's farm until the spring of 1864, when he came to Illi- nois and located in Jo Daviess county. After farming for some two years he built a store and entered into the general merchandise busi- ness at Pitcherville, where he had succeeded in getting a postoffice established, and was made post-master, which office he held until 1871, when he removed to Dixon and engaged in the manufacture of the Excelsior Barley Forks, and of the Buck Patent Spring Bolster for lumber wagons. In 1877 he went into the agricultural implement business, which he still carries on. Mr. Pitcher was married January 20, 1871, to Miss Abigail Cramer, of Marshalltown, Iowa, and has two

210

HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

children, Bessie, aged eight years, and Louis, an infant son. In 1862 Mr. Pitcher enlisted in the 5th N. Y. Heavy Artillery, but after serv- ing about three months was discharged for disability. He is a repub- lican in politics, and at the present time is alderman of the third ward of the city of Dixon.

DANIEL B. McKENNEY, magistrate, Dixon, was born March 31, 1816, in Montgomery county, New York, and is the son of Peter and Rhoda (Tickner) McKenney .. He removed with his parents in 1820 to Canada, where he resided during his childhood, and came to Dixon in the spring of 1836, when twenty years of age. His father ·came in that fall, when they together opened hotel in a log-house on Peoria street, Dixon. In the winter of 1836-7 he drove twenty miles west of Princeton, this state, and purchased one ton of fresh pork, for which he paid $200. The same quantity could be bought the follow- ing winter for $25. In the winter of 1836-7 flour was $20 per barrel in Chicago, the nearest port of supply. Soon after this time oats were purchased at eight cents per bushel, and at one time he and his uncle bought up and stored a large quantity, which afterward became a total loss and were thrown away. In 1841 Mr. McKenney purchased seventy feet front on Main street, on which stood the first brick building erected in Dixon. Other buildings have been since built, until the ground was occupied. Soon after the purchase of this lot he engaged in merchandising, in which he continued for a number of years. After a life of twenty-six years, young Daniel was persuaded that it was not " good for man to live alone," and was united in marriage to Miss Eliza Ann Whitney, of Franklin Grove, in 1842. Mrs. McKenney is a daughter of Nathan and Sarah (Gray) Whitney, of Lee county, noticed in connection with Franklin Grove. In the spring of 1870 the subject of our sketch was elected magistrate in Dixon, in which office he has continued until present, his official acts being held in high esteem by all lovers of justice. In politics the Esquire is democratic in his affiliations, but voted for Abraham Lincoln through personal ap- preciation.

CAPT. JOHN DYSART, grain dealer and flour merchant, Dixon, was born in Huntington county, Pennsylvania, October 4, 1834, and is the son of Joseph and Mary Ann (Davis) Dysart. He spent the days of his childhood on a farm near Birmingham, Pennsylvania, in which place he received his early education. In 1857 he came to Illinois, and settled in Nachusa, Lee county, where he engaged in the grain and lun- ber trade, in which he continued for twenty years. On August 25, 1861, Mr. Dysart enlisted in Co. D, Bowen's Cavalry Battalion of Vol- unteers, entering the ranks as a private, from which he rose to the command of his company. The captain was in the Army of the Mis-

211

DIXON TOWNSHIP.

sissippi, was in the battle of Pea Ridge as one of the many interesting experiences of army life. The captain was private only fifteen days, duty sergeant three months, orderly sergeant one year, quartermaster's department three months, lientenant of the company from which he was promoted to captainey, and was mustered out in October 1865. In the spring of 1877 he moved to Dixon, and engaged in the purchase and shipment of grain, occupying the stone elevator built by Col. John Dement, west of the Illinois Central depot, where he is still in an ex- tensive business. The elevator has a capacity of 30,000, and is driven by steam-power, through which he handles about half a million of grain per annum. In the spring of 1880 he extended his business, through the elevator at the Illinois Central railroad, North Dixon, un- der the firm name of Messrs. Dysart & Brubaker. This firm has a flour house on Hennepin street, between Main and Water streets, where they ship for the trade from 300 to 400 barrels of flour per week, having exclusive control of the Becker & Underwood flour. Mr. Dysart also owns elevators at Nelson, five miles west on the North- western railroad, at Nachusa, five miles east, and at Franklin and Ash- ton, east, all on the Northwestern railroad. From these several points in Lee county is shipped to the Chicago house of Messrs. Dysart & Geoghegan. On March 9, 1865, Mr. Dysart was united in marriage to Miss E. L. Crawford, of Pennsylvania. As the result of this union are two interesting daughters. The family home is a beautiful resi- dence, conveniently located on Crawford street in the city of Dixon.

FRANK W. LITTLE, deputy county clerk, Dixon, was born August 26, 1859, in the city of Dixon, Lee county, Illinois, and is the son of Joseph T. and Elliner W. (Cobb) Little. His parents came to Dixon in the fall of 1838, being among the early settlers of Lee county. His father was among the first merchants in Dixon, and in after years be- came associated with the manufacturing interests of the county, until he removed to the city of Washington, District of Columbia, in 1880.

ELIAS BOVEY, lumber merchant, Dixon, was born in Washington county, Maryland, June 19, 1838; and is the son of Jacob and Delila (Kretsinger) Bovey, of that state. He moved with his parents to Illinois and settled on a farm near Mount Morris, Ogle county, in 1843. He received his education in the common schools and Rock River sem- inary at Mount Morris, Ogle county. When twenty-one years of age he purchased a farm three miles south of Polo, and commenced busi- ness for himself, as a farmer. In the spring of 1867 he came to Lee county and located in Dixon, where he has since made his home. In 1872 he established a lumber yard on Water street, where he is still conducting a successful business. On the 26th of September, 1865, Mr. Bovey was united in marriage to Miss Jennie Buckalu, of Dixon,

212

HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

who deceased February 6, 1877, and was conveyed to her final resting place in the Dixon cemetery. On the 17th of March, 1880, he was united in marriage to Miss Addie Clute, of Dixon. Mr. Bovey is a prominent member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he holds different official relations, and is an efficient Sabbath-school su- perintendent. Politically the subject of our sketch is a republican, and cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln.

MAJOR OBADIAHI DOWNING, agricultural merchant, Dixon, was born in Queen's county, Long Island, New York, April 12, 1836, and is the son of George and Mary (Jackson) Downing. The family, though of an English ancestry, have for several generations resided on Long Island, the Major's father and grandfather having been born in the same house. Having spent his childhood on the home farm, the Major, when a boy of sixteen, came to Chicago and made his home with his uncle, whom he assisted in the mercantile trade for six years, and in 1856 returned to Long Island, where he resided until the break- ing out of the war of the rebellion. He responded to his country's call by enlisting in the United States service, and in August, 1861, entered Co. H, 2d reg. N. Y. Cav., as second lieutenant, and re- mained in the service until the close of the war, and was mustered ont as lieutenant-colonel. He was under Gen. Sheridan in the depart- ment of the Potomac; and took part in all the principal battles of the Army of the Potomac, and during the great battle of the Wilderness, when Gen. Sheridan was menacing Richmond, on the 12th day of May, 1864, he fell into the hands of the enemy and was conveyed as pris- oner of war to Libby Prison, and thence to Macon, Georgia. The Major was one of the five hundred Union officers who were sent as Union prisoners to Charleston, South Carolina, and placed by the confederate authorities under the fire of the federal guns to force the government to an exchange of prisoners. After remaining here a few weeks they were removed to Columbia, South Carolina. In the fol- lowing August the Major effected an escape from prison, and was cared for by the colored people for two weeks while trying to reach the Union lines. He was, however, tracked down and recaptured by the aid of bloodhounds near Abbeville, South Carolina, and taken back to Columbia. Here he remained quiet for one month when about the 1st of October he and Col. Cook, afterward minister to Chili, run the guards on a dark, rainy night when the camp-fires were burning low and escaped to the mountains of Tennessee, where they kept them- selves concealed for about three months. Finding it impossible to pass the rebel pickets, they reported at the rebel headquarters and rep- resented themselves as confederate soldiers and obtained passes through their lines; but in crossing the mountains in the Cherokee country

213

DIXON TOWNSHIP.

they were taken by a patrol of Indians who were guarding the moun- tain passes to prevent the escape of deserters, and were carried back to the rebel headquarters, where they were confined and starved into a confession and returned to Libby prison ; and on February 22, 1865, were exchanged and returned to the federal army.

A special order being issued in the war department that all sol- diers having captured rebel flags should have a furlough to visit Wash- ington and deposit the captured ensign, Col. Downing, being one of the honored number, visited the capital for the above purpose, and was present at the theater at the time of the assassination of President Lincoln, and witnessed that dreadful tragedy on April 13, 1865. After the close of the war he returned home on Long Island, and was chosen by the people of Queen's county to represent them in the state legis- lature in 1865, and was reelected in 1866. In 1867 the colonel came to Illinois and settled in Dixon. He assisted in establishing the first factory in the country for manufacturing cotton bagging out of flax tow, and in the fall of 1868 sold his interest to Col. John Dement. In the same fall he purchased a farm of 600 acres in Kane county, this state, where he made his home until 1876. In 1872 Col. Downing was united in marriage to Miss Mary Yates, of Kane county, and daughter of Bartholomew C. and Nancy (Tabias) Yates, formerly of western New York. In 1876 our subject sold half of his farm and returned to Dixon, where in 1879 he engaged in the agricultural trade in that city. The colonel has a beautiful home in north Dixon, and a family of three children: Miss Mary Olive, born March 27, 1874; Master George, born September 6, 1875, and Benjamin Franklin, born November 22, 1880.

COL. HENRY T. NOBLE, manufacturer, Dixon, is a native of Massa- chusetts, born in Otis, Berkshire county, that state, May 3, 1830. He is the son of Henry and Mary Ann (Hubbard) Noble. The geneal- ogy of the family is traced back for seven generations to Thomas Noble, of England, who was born in 1632, and came to Boston some time prior to 1653, thence to Springfield, Massachusetts, and died in Westfield in 1704, aged seventy-two. The colonel, our present subject, spent his early life on a farm, during which time he was securing a liberal education preparatory to entering college, and became a member of the first class organized in the state normal school at Westfield, Massachu- setts. Subsequently he devoted two years to school teaching. In 1850 he came to Illinois, and located in Dixon. The two succeeding years he devoted to school teaching, writing in the land office at such times as not engaged in his profession. In 1852 the colonel engaged in the purchase and collection of land warrants held by soldiers who served in the Mexican war; traveling through Missouri, Tennessee,

214

HISTORY OF LEE COUNTY.

Kentucky and Alabama. On his return he ocated lands in Illinois, and engaged with his uncle, Silas Noble, in banking and real-estate business, until 1857. He was subsequently engaged in settling up the affairs of the bank until the beginning of the war in 1861. He was the first to enlist in the Union service in Lee county, enrolling his name five days after the firing on Fort Sumter, and proposed to be one of fifty to go to the front at once in his country's service. On April 20 he was chosen first lieutenant of Co. A, 13th reg. Ill. Vols., and was mustered into the United States service under the three- years call, May 24, as captain of said company. On July 8, 1863, he was promoted to the staff of the quartermaster's department ; and in November of the same year he was promoted major, and in thirty days later commissioned lieutenant-colonel. Abont March 1, 1864, he was promoted colonel by the secretary of war on the staff of Major-General J. J. Reynolds, and appointed chief quartermaster, department of Arkansas; which position he held until October 15, 1866, when he was mustered out of the service at his own request, and under the ex- pressed regrets of the commanding general of the department. After the acceptance of his resignation he returned home to Dixon, and in the following winter visited Washington and closed up his business with the government with gratifying results. The colonel was in con- stant [service from April, 1861, to November, 1866, during which time he never lost a day, with the exception of a furlough of thirty days, which was afterward extended ten days, while he was in Washington, by Gen. E. D. Townsend, by order of the secretary of war. In 1866 he bought an interest in the Grand Detonr plow works, now estab- lished at Dixon, under the firm of Commins, Noble & Dodge.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Lee County, together with biographical matter, statistics, etc., Part 20

Author: Hill, H.H. (Chicago) pbl Publication date: 1881 Publisher: Chicago, H.H. Hill Number of Pages: 910

Author: Hill, H.H. (Chicago) pbl
Publication date: 1881
Publisher: Chicago, H.H. Hill
Number of Pages: 910