USA > Illinois > McHenry County > History of McHenry County, Illinois : together with sketches of its cities, villages and towns : educational, religious, civil, military, and political history : portraits of prominent persons, and biographies of representative citizens, also a condensed History of Illinois > Part 23
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PHINEAS W. PLATT came to Woodstock in March, 1845. He was a native of Pennsylvania, studied law in Indiana and began its practice in Woodstock. He was one of the best lawyers that ever practiced in the county; not so eloquent as some, but sound, sensible and logical. Alonzo Platt-who was not a relative of Phineas-came soon after, and the two went into partnership as Platt & Platt. They had an extensive practice. Alonzo went to California during the gold excitement; Phineas remained in Woodstock until 1851, then went to Texas, where he died several years later.
COLONEL ALONZO PLATT practiced law in this county from 1846 to 1850 in partnership with Phineas W. Platt, having their office in the old " Rat-hole." He went to the California gold regions in 1850, and remained in the West until 1862, when he died in Vir-
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ginia City, Nev. He was a good lawyer, a strong Democrat and a stirring politician. He was born in Danbury, Conn., in 1816; served in the Wisconsin Legislature in 1844; studied law and began its practice in Woodstock. He served as State's Attorney, and was considered a very able man.
AMOS COGSWELL settled in Hebron about 1847 and removed to Woodstock about three years later. In partnership with Charles McClure he had a good practice for several years. He was a strong and able lawyer. He is now a resident of Raymond, Clark Co., Dak. Mr. Cogswell studied law with Franklin Pierce, and after the latter became President, received a Government appoint- ment and moved to Washington. Both he and McClure went to Minnesota about 1859.
COLONEL JAMES M. STRODE was well known as one of the ablest of the early lawyers in Northern Illinois. He settled in Wood- stock in 1850 or 1851. He had already won distinction at the bar as a circuit lawyer by long practice in Galena and Chicago. He served as County Judge from 1854 to 1857. In the latter year lie removed to Missouri, whence he went to Kentucky and died. He had a good legal mind, was good in argument, and as a story-teller had no superior in the State with the exception of Abraham Lincoln.
HON. THEO. D. MURPHY, ex-Judge of the Circuit Court, is a native of Virginia. He was born June 12, 1826; came to McHenry County in 1845. On the 1st of January, 1851, he began the prac- tice of law in Woodstock, and has steadily devoted himself to the practice of his profession ever since, with the exception of twenty- one years upon the bench. He was chosen County Judge for a term of four years, and from 1862 to 1879, by successive re-elec- tions, he held the office of Judge of the Circuit Court for the circuit in which McHenry County was included. During the last three years of this time he was Chief Justice of the Appellate Court of Cook County, District No. 1. He established the Appellate Court in this district, designed the seal, procured record books, and completed all arrangements for opening it. In each of the high positions to which he has been chosen Judge Murphy has served with distinction and honor.
CHARLES M. WILLARD settled in Woodstock about 1851, and went into partnership with Colonel L. S. Church. The partner- ship was dissolved after a few years. After practicing alone for a while he became the partner of James H. Slavin. Mr. Willard removed to Chicago about 1857. He was an able lawyer.
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FREEMAN VAN WICKLE came to Woodstock from New York about 1852, and remained eight or ten years. For some time he was the partner of M. L. Joslyn. He was a successful lawyer. He removed to Michigan.
HON. MERRITT L. JOSLYN, for many years one of the foremost lawyers and politicians of Northern Illinois, is a native of the State of New York. He was born in Livingston County in 1827, and has resided in Illinois since 1839. As a lawyer and politician he is brilliant and eloquent. As a Legislator he has proved in- dustrious and rigidly devoted to the best interests of his constitu- ency. He was formerly a Democrat, and in 1856 was a Buchanan elector. He is a recognized leader among thie Republicans, and is one of the most vigilant partisans. He served as Captain in the Thirty-sixth Illinois Regiment during the late war. In 1864-'5 he represented his district in the State Legislature; and in 1876 he was elected State Senator by the large vote of 6,003, against 3,485 for his opponent. He served with distinction in both bodies of the State Legislature, gaining a wide reputation for readiness, wit and eloquence. He has been a very useful member of his party ever since war issues came to the front, and now occupies the responsible position of Assistant Secretary of the Interior Department at Washington, to which place he was appointed by President Arthur in July, 1882.
HON. WM. KERR, deceased .- The subject of this notice was born in Delaware County, Ohio, Dec. 22, 1819. In 1839 he came to Illinois, then the " far West," and in the following year made his home in Boone County, where he soon became noted among the settlers as a man of great intellectual strength and ability. He had always a preference for the law, and quite early in his career as a pioneer he began the pursuit of it-not for gain, but merely as a pastime. Such a man was, of course, conspicuous above his fellows in a new settlement, and Mr. Kerr soon became the gra- tuitous counselor and general peacemaker of his neighborhood. He pursued this course with but little profit to himself, but with great benefit to the community, until the year 1857, when his friend, Hon. L. S. Church, persuaded him to remove to Wood- stock and devote himself to the law as a profession. Mr. Kerr yielded, became Mr. Church's law partner, and soon won dis- tinguished recognition as a lawyer. He served one term as County Judge, and died July 28, 1866, in the midst of another term. A local paper, chronicling his decease, spoke of him as follows :
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" His death has caused a vacancy on the bench, in the ranks of his profession, in his business connections, in the community, and particularly in the family circle, which can never be filled. As a member of society he was ever amiable, sociable, charitable and kind, never arrogating to himself superiority above the lowest, and never cringing below the highest, imitating neither the cox- comb nor the sycophant. As a counselor he was always candid and sincere, never esponsing the wrong side because it was the side of his client and by being truthful he might lose a fee. As an advocate he was clear, logical and concise. The jurors whom he has addressed will remember that they were never afflicted by him with superfluous sentences or redundant words. As a judge he was always calm, dignified, dispassionate and right. He knew the law both intuitively and by study, and always declared it with- out fear or favor."
H. S. HANCHETT, a lawyer of fair ability, came to Woodstock in the latter part of the year 1857. Soon after he formed a partner- ship with M. L. Joslyn which continued until about 1862. Han- chett then went into the army; during the war he was taken captive and starved to death in Andersonville Prison.
P. B. Enos, S. R. Paynter and George A. Anstin were among the members of this bar in 1857. So also was Enos W. Smith, but he never practiced law. T. B. Wakeman, of Harvard, C. K. Couch, and John S. Burrows, of Richmond, were practicing attor- neys in 1860.
HON. FLAVEL K. GRANGER, of McHenry, though best known as a successful business man, is a member of the McHenry County bar of long standing. Mr. Granger was born May 16, 1832, in Wayne County, N. Y. He passed his boyhood upon a farm at- tending the common schools until fifteen years of age. Hethen at- tended an academy for two years and afterward was a student in the Wesleyan Seminary at Lima, N. Y. At the age of eighteen he engaged in school-teaching which he followed for three terms. In the spring of 1853 he migrated westward and immediately began the study of the law in the office of Smith & Williams, at Wauke- gan, Ill. In the fall of 1855 he was admitted to the bar. On ac- count of poor health and to obtain out-door exercise, he came to McHenry and engaged in stock-buying and grain-dealing. This has since been his principal business, although he has not neglected the law. His practice has been quite extensive and successful. In 1870 Mr. Granger was chosen Supervisor of the town of Mc-
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Henry, being the first Republican ever elected to the office. After- ward he was twice re-elected. In the fall of 1872 the Republicans of McHenry and Lake counties elected him their Representative to the Legislature. To this office he was re-elected three times without opposition. During his last two terms he was speaker of the House, having the honor of being the first to preside in the new State capitol building. His course while speaker was such as to win the highest encomiums of the press and people. From many tributes, we selected the following from an editorial in the Sunday Telegraph of Chicago, May 11, 1879:
"Mr. Granger, who is now in liis fourth term, keeps a better run of the business of the House and knows better how to avail himself of the rules than any other member. He is well posted on every question of legislation; as a speaker he is easy and clear in his statements, always commanding the attention of his unruly audience."
Mr. Granger was married Jan. 18, 1859, to Miss Fannie Shirts, daughter of Henry and Thurza Shirts. Mrs. Granger died April 27, 1868, aged twenty-eight years. Three children were born of this union-Ada, Almon C. and Charles H. Dec. 2, 1869, Mr. Granger married Miss Frankie E. Brown, a native of New York. They have one child-Edwin P.
J. C. Smith, now a patent lawyer in Washington, practiced in Woodstock a short time after 1860. A lawyer named Burlingame came about the same time and remained a few months.
T. B. WAKEMAN settled in the town of Alden in 1839 and was the only lawyer ever a resident of that town. He remained until 1859, when he removed to Harvard, where he continued his profes- sion several years. He finally removed to Chicago where he died in 1882. He had a good practice while in this county and was considered a sound lawyer. In 1868 Mr. Wakeman's son, B. Thad- deus Wakeman, a graduate of the law department of the University of Michigan, became associated with his father's practice and re- mained a short time.
J. B. Lyon, the next lawyer in Harvard after Mr. Wakeman, has practiced in that town for about twenty years.
J. P. Cheever practiced law in Harvard about twelve years and ranked well among the profession. In 1883 he removed to Castle- wood, Dak.
ALBERT W. YOUNG, attorney at law, Harvard, was born at Windsor, Sherbrooke Co., Canada, Sept. 21, 1843, a son of Joseph
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W. and Emily (Boynton) Young, his father a native of Antrim, Ireland, of Scotch-Irish descent, and his mother of Orleans County, Vt., of English and French descent. In the spring of 1865 the family moved to Will County, Ill., and a year later to Kankakee County, where the mother died, Jan. 11, 1876. Five of a family of six children are living-A. W. ; E. R., of Egan, Dak .; Henry J., of Florence, Kas .; Nellie, wife of Robert Perry, of Dodge City, Kas .; Emily H., wife of Peter Vanderwater, Longview, Tcx. Florence A. died in Canada, Feb. 29, 1860. A. W. Young received an academical education in Canada, and after coming to Illinois attended the Normal School at Normal, Ill., two years. He then went to Millersburg, Ky., and taught a select school a year, and in 1870 came to McHenry County, and was Principal of the Rich- mond schools a year, of the Woodstock schools two years, and of the Harvard schools three years. In the meantime he studied law with J. P. Cheever, and Sept. 15, 1876, was admitted to the bar, and at once formed a partnership with Mr. Cheever. In November, 1877, he was elected County Superintendent of Schools for a term of four years, and at the expiration of his term was appointed fo one year. In the spring of 1878 the partnership with Mr. Cheever was dissolved. Mr. Young has held the office of Town and City Clerk a number of years. Nov. 4, 1884, he was elected States Attorney of McHenry County on the Republican ticket. He is a member of the Republican Committee of the Eighth Senatorial District, embracing the counties of Lake, McHenry and Boone. He is a member of Harvard Lodge, No. 309, F. & A. M .; Har- vard Chapter, No. 91, R. A. M., and Calvary Commandery, No. 25, K. T.
JOHN A. PARRISH was born in Washington County, N. Y., Aug. 6, 1825. His parents were well-educated and influential people. He was educated in the common schools of his native State, at Salem Academy, Cambridge Academy, and the New York State Normal School at Albany, graduating from the latter institution about 1850. Subsequently he taught in the Brockport Academy, New York, at Columbus, Ohio, and at Marengo, Aurora and Woodstock, Ill., until about 1859, when poor health obliged him to quit teaching. Soon after he was admitted to the bar, and began the practice .of law in McHenry County, which he con- tinued until his death, Feb. 7, 1882. He was then one of the older members of the McHenry County bar, honored in his pro- fession. Owing to a weakness of his lungs, he was never able to
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plead in court, but devoted himself to office work, having a good practice. He was successful as an insurance and pension agent and as a money loaner. He had amassed a competency and was a respected and honored citizen. In 1878 Mr. Parrish married Mrs. Julia White, who survives him. He was public spirited and of liberal views. He was a Mason of high degree. He held a number of local offices.
WILLIAM JACKSON was born in Waterbury, Conn., Aug. 20, 1808, a son of Daniel and Polly (Frisbie) Jackson. In an early day four brothers came from Ireland to America; one, Daniel, settled in Maine; another, the father of Andrew Jackson, settled in South Carolina; John settled in Connecticut, and the fourth settled in Massachusetts. John reared a family of four boys, the second, Daniel, being the father of our subject. The maternal ancestors were natives of Scotland and came to America prior to the Revolu- tion and settled in New Haven County, Conn. The grandfather of our subject, Reuben Frisbie, served in that war. He was a brother of Jude Frisbie, a member of the Legislature thirty years. He married Ruth Seward, sister of Colonel Seward, of Revolution- ary fame, and aunt of Wm. A. Seward. Our subject's mother was a sister of Judge Frisbie, of Indiana. In 1819 Daniel Jackson moved to New York, in 1832 to Ashtabula County, Ohio, and in 1843 to McHenry County, Ill., where he died at the age of seven- ty-one years. William Jackson received a common-school educa- tion and after reaching manhood engaged in the lumber business. He began reading law with his uncle, Judge Frisbie, in 1828, but was not adınitted to the bar till 1859. Since then he has paid con- siderable attention to his profession. He came to McHenry County in 1838 and located in Algonquin Township, but subse- quently removed to the village of Nunda. He has been a promi- nent man in the county and has served as Justice of the Peace sixteen years. He has been twice elected Associate Judge, and was appointed Judge, vice Judge Carr, deceased. Politically he adheres to the Democratic party. He was married in Ashtabula County, Ohio, in 1832, to Lucy Babbitt. They have had five sons -Amos Seward, Streeter, Herman (an attorney of Oskosh, Wis.), Samuel and Frank. Mr. Jackson has been a member of the Chris- tian church fifty years.
HON. IRA ROZEL CURTISS, son of R. M. and Rachel Curtiss, was born Sept. 9, 1836, at Mt. Morris, Livingston Co., N. Y. His parents were from New England and practiced through life the
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industrious and economic habits so characteristic of the people of their birthplace. When about two years old his father died, leav- ing a large family to the care of his mother. His early boyhood was spent upon the home farm. At the age of sixteen he com- menced business for himself, by renting land upon the "Genesee Flats" and farming the same. This enterprise was a financial success, so that he accumulated money enough in one year to pay his expenses while taking a regular classical course of studies in college; and after spending three years in Antioch College, under Horace Mann, he entered the senior class of Union College, at Schenectady, N. Y., under Dr. Knott, and graduated in 1860, receiving the degree of "Bachelor of Arts." In February, 1861, he located at Marengo, McHenry Co., Ill., where he has con- tinuously resided, excepting while in the Union army during the late Rebellion, having been inustered into the United States service, in Company D, Fifteenth Regiment Illinois Infantry Volunteers, on May 24, 1861, and remained in the service until the following fall, when he was discharged on account. of ill-health and re- turned home. At the end of one year thereafter his health was restored, and then he was employed as clerk in the Provost-Mar- shal's office, for the major part of the time, until the close of the war, and while not so employed he prosecuted pension and bounty claims, studying law at spare intervals, until June, 1865, when he was admitted to the bar, since which time he has continucd in the active practice of his profession. For several years he has been a member of the Board of Supervisors, and for the last two years its chairman, besides filling many minor and local offices in his town and county. In the fall of 1870 he was elected a Representative from McHenry County to the Twenty-seventh General Assembly, which commenced the revision of the laws under the then new Constitution and held four sessions. In 1876 he was elected State's Attorney and re-elected in 1880. During his eight years of service in that capacity he never had an indictment quashed and paid over to the school fund more money collected by him from fines than had ever before been paid to that fund from that source. In the fall of 1884 Mr. Curtiss was elected by his district to the State Senate by 4,799 majority, and is now representing the Eightlı Senatorial District in the Thirty-fourth General Assembly. He has ever been an active worker and firm adherent to the principles of the Republican party. He takes a deep interest in the Grand Army of the Republic and was for two years Commander of Post 17
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No. 169, at Marengo. He is also an active worker in Masonry, being a member of his local lodges and has received the Thirty- second degree in Oriental Consistory. Mr. Curtiss was on May 27, 1874, united in marriage to Josie, only child of Elisha and Mary Dayton, a lady whose literary tastes and domestic qualifi- cations form a fitting companion piece to her husband's active and busy life.
HON. BENJAMIN N. SMITH was born in McHenry County, in August, 1838. His father, Nathaniel Smith, was one of the pioneer settlers of the county. Judge Smith received his academic education at different schools in Illinois and Wisconsin. In August, 1864, he enlisted in Company E, Ninety-fifth Illinois Infantry, and served until the close of the war. In April, 1866, he graduated from the law department of the University of Michi- gan. The same year he opened an office in Woodstock, where he has since practiced. In 1869 he was elected County Judge, which position he held thirteen years. He was Master in Chancery four years. During the trial of Thomas and John Casey for the mur- der of Michael Lawler, he was the assistant of the prosecuting attorney. Judge Smith is a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, a Mason of high standing, also connected with the G. A. R. and the A. O. U. W. He was married in 1866 to Miss Abbie B. Dake, of Woodstock, and is the father of two sons and two daughters.
M. F. ELLSWORTH was born in Rochester, N. Y., Sept. 14, 1838, a son of Lewis and Nancy A. Ellsworth, natives of New York. In 1843 his parents moved to McHenry County, Ill., where his father engaged in stock dealing. His father died Feb. 12, 1881, aged seventy-five years, and his mother, July 31, 1851. He is a descendant of Judge Ellsworth, a Supreme Judge during the ad- ministration of President Washington. His grandfather, Thomas Secor, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution and was wounded seven times. He died in 1843 aged 108 years. Mr. Ellsworth received a good education and after leaving school went to Ken- tucky and taught till the breaking out of the Rebellion. In April, 1861, he enlisted in Houghtaling's Light Artillery for three months, and at the expiration of his term enlisted in Company H, Thirty- sixth Illinois Infantry, and was elected Second Lieutenant of his company. He served seven months and then resigned on account of ill health. In July, 1862, he enlisted in the Ninety-fifth Illinois Infantry as a private. Feb. 28, 1863, he was commissioned Sec-
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ond Lieutenant, and May following First Lieutenant, serving till his discharge, Sept. 11, 1865. He participated in the siege of Vicksburg, Red River campaign and battle of Guntown, where he was wounded in the hand and arm, and disabled for field duty. From Oct. 1, 1864, till discharged he served on court-martial duty. After his return home he began the study of law in the office of Church & Kerr, Woodstock, and in the fall of 1866 entered the law school at Ann Arbor, Mich., where he graduated in the spring of 1868, and was admitted to the bar. He practiced in Illinois a year, in New Hampton, Iowa, a year, and in Crete, Neb., four years. In 1874 he moved to Nunda, where he has built up a large practice. Mr. Ellsworth was married December, 1865, to Cornelia, daughter of Solomon and Luna Morey, of Ringwood, Ill. They have three children-Edith A., Emma and Grace W. Politically Mr. Ellsworth has affiliated with the Republican party, but of more recent date is a Prohibitionist. He is a member of Nunda Post, No. 226, G. A. R. Mrs. Ellsworth's father died in 1872 and ler mother in 1879.
JAMES H. SLAVIN was one of the ablest and best lawyers the county has ever had. He was born and reared in the county, and after practicing law about fifteen years, died Feb. 6, 1875, at the age of thirty-eight years. He was a self-made man, and rose to distinction in his profession through energy of character and per- sistent application. He had no flashy qualities, but his mind was far-seeing, analytical and discriminating. He was capable of grasping and unravelling the most intricate questions of law. He had a sound knowledge of the law, a good memory and solid judgment. These qualifications made him a formidable opponent in debate and an able contestant at the bar. In all that is essen- tial to the profession he was a good lawyer. He was kind and genial, and possessed an inexhaustible fund of humor. He kept aloof from politics, though taking an active interest in all ques- tions of moment in local and national affairs. He would never consent to be a candidate for any office, but devoted himself closely to his profession. His career was successful, though brief, and his life honorable.
HON. O. H. GILLMORE, County Judge, was born in Norfolk, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y., June 17, 1848. His parents, Harvey and Esther (Sawyer) Gillmore, came to McHenry County in 1854, where the mother is still living. Judge Gillmore received a common-school education, and graduated in 1873 from the law
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department of the University of Michigan, after pursuing his studies for some time under the tuition of A. B. Coon and Ira R. Curtiss, of this county. He began practicing in Woodstock in 1873, and has been successful in his profession. In 1882 he was elected County Judge, and he is now serving in that office. He is a member of the Masonic order and an earnest Republican. Judge Gillmore married Miss Anna Granger, a native of Michigan.
JOHN M. SOUTHWORTH, for a number of years a practicing at- torney of Woodstock, was born in Bradford, Vt., May 21, 1839. In 1858 he settled in McHenry County, and April 19, 1861, enlisted in the Seventh Illinois Regiment, the first regiment organized in the State; Sept. 18, 1861, he entered Company H, Eleventh Cavalry, as Lieutenant; he served upward of five years and left the army with the rank of Major. He was elected Sheriff of the county in 1866, and Clerk of the Circuit Court in 1868. He began the practice of law in Woodstock in June, 1873. In August of the same year lie was appointed Commissioner of the Illinois State Penitentiary. He now practices his profession in Chicago.
HON. RICHARD BISHOP, a lawyer and prominent business man of McHenry, is a native of New York. He was born in Gainesville, Wyoming Co., N. Y., Nov. 16, 1824. When Richard was but seven years of age his father, Hezekiah Bishop, was killed by a falling tree. This sad event left to the boy an inheritance of poverty, and he was early obliged to devote his labor to the support of the family. His first earnings were 10 cents per day at such labor as threshing grain with a flail longer than himself. When he became strong enough to use an ax, he cut wood for 20 and 25 cents per cord. When about twelve years of age he went to live with a physician, and during the three years that he remained in his family endured trials well calculated to break the heart and constitution of a boy. Every spring he was compelled to attend to a sugar orchard of sixty-five trees, cutting the wood, gathering the sap, and carrying the sugar home with a yoke upon his shoulders. When fifteen years old he hired with a blacksmith for three years, his wages being $30 for the first year, $35 for the second, and $40 for the third. He worked faithfully and learned the trade rapidly, though laboring at some disadvantage, as he was obliged to stand on a stool in order to make himself tall enough to strike upon the anvil. After serving his time he followed his trade two years. He was then twenty years of age, and, like many a young man at that time, he decided to go West. In the spring of
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