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 40
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Harvard Chapter, No. 91, R. A. M. was organized as the George L. Dunlap Chapter, Oct. 5, 1866, and continued as such till Oct. 27, 1874, when it was changed to the present name. The charter was given Oct. 5, 1866. The following is a list of charter members : J. G. Callender, H. B. Minier, Holland Morton, E. E. Ayer, Asel Brainard, J. C. Crumb, A. Carmack, G. M. Hull, M. Keifer, Wm. C. Lampson, Peter McElroy, John McElroy, T. B. Wakeman and H. W. Richardson. First officers were as follows: J. C. Callender, M. E. H. P .; H. B. Minier, E. K .; H. Norton, E. S .; T. B. Wake- man, Captain of Host; G. M. Hull, P. S .; E. E. Ayer, R. A. C .; J. C. Crumb, G. M. 3d V .; A. Carmack, G. M. 2d V .; M. Keifer, G. M. 1st V .; E. G. Ayer, Treas .; H. W. Richardson, Secretary; A. Brainard, Sentinel. Present officers: H. B. Minier, M. E. H. P .; R. Coventry, E. K .; B. Cornwell, E. S .; W. C. Wellington, Cap- tain of the Host; Lot P. Smith, P. S .; W. D. Hull, R. A. C .; H. H. Megraw, Secretary; J. C. Crumb, Treasurer; James Logue,
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G. M. 3d V .; T. P. Marshall, G. M. 2d V .; J. D. Clark, G. M. 1st V .; James Maxwell, Tyler. This chapter is in a flourishing condition with a membership of ninety-one. Their hall is one of the finest in the Northwest and is most handsomely and expen- sively furnished. The society is having enlarged and framed the portraits of deceased members, and soon the walls will be beauti- fully ornamented with these pictures.
Harvard Lodge, No. 309, F. & A. M., was chartered Oct. 5, 1859. The following is a list of charter members: Henry T. Rice, Elbridge G. Ayer, Alonzo E. Axtell, Benjamin Lowell, Thaddeus B. Wakeman, Henry B. Minier, Hira inJackson, Enos Kellogg, Lyman Backus. The following is a list of the first offi- cers appointed under the charter: Henry T. Rice, Master; El- bridge G. Ayer, S. W .; Alonzo E. Axtell, J. W. At the first election, which was held on the third Monday of December, 1859, the following officers were elected: T. B. Wakeman, Master; Alonzo E. Axtell, S. W .; Joseph C. Crumb, J. W .; Benjamin Lowell, Treas .; Abner J. Burbank, Secretary; Henry B. Minier, S. D .; Hiram Jackson, J. D .; Holland Norton, S. S .; George F. Crawford, J. S .; George N. Sherwood, Tyler. Present officers: Renus Coventry, Master; Wallace C. Wellington, S. W .; Albert W. Young, J. W .; Joseph C. Crumb, Treasurer; Philo Wilkin- son, Secretary; Hugh H. Megraw, S. D .; Wm. D. Hull, J. D .; Chas. M. Wilkinson, S. S .; Morrow W. Lake, J. S .; Wm. H. Grovestien, Tyler. The present number of members is ninety- two. They rent their hall of Williams Brothers who built it for the order and leased it to them for a term of years. It is beanti- fully frescoed, and ornamented with the frames containing the enlarged portraits of departed members in good standing. The hall is handsomely furnished at an expense of over $1,000. In 1863 their furniture was entirely destroyed by fire. Their book alone was saved. Their present regalia, badges, etc., are truly fine. The lodge is in a flourishing condition and is quite a factor in making society better and cementing together many friend- ships.
HARVARD SCHOOL.
The first school of Harvard was organized in the summer of 1859 and was conducted in the building belonging to Hall & Julius till the school building was made ready. The first Princi- pal was J. E. Young, assisted by Miss Mary Ballou. In a few
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years it became necessary to enlarge the school building, and a frame extension of forty feet was added to it, making a length of seventy-five feet. Again the building was found inadequate to the demands upon it, and in 1871 a wing 40 x 22 was added to it. In 1880 an imperative demand was made for more room and the dis- trict purchased the lot north of the school-house and fitted up the dwelling thereon for two departments of the school. There are now in the school nine departments. They employ eight teachers besides the principal. The school is maintained at a cost of $4,500 a year. The school property is valued at $7,000. In 1874 this was established as a graded school. The first Principal was H. B. Coe; Wm. H. Knox, the second, who was employed from 1876 to 1880. From 1880 to 1881 C. C. Crand was the Principal. Mrs. C. G. Hayner held the Principalship from 1882 till R. E. Cutler was employed, whose time has just expired. The present Principal is Ed Sweeney. The attendance of the school averages 457.
POSTOFFICE
was established here in 1851. W. Randall, who has been dead for many years, was first Postmaster. The second Postinaster, R. W. M. De Lee, has also been dead many years. The third was A. E. Axtell, who still resides here. J. W. Groesbeck, the present incumbent, was appointed in 1880. First money order issued, July 13, 1869. First order paid, July 20, 1869.
INCORPORATION.
The village of Harvard was incorporated Feb. 28, 1867. The first election was held in April, 1868, at which time the following officers were elected : E. G. Ayer, President; William Marshall, Clerk; J. C. Crumb, Frank Cobb, Owen McGee, B. F. Groesbeck, Trustees. The following is a list of the present officers : N. B. Blake, President; William Hall and George King, Marshals; J. C. Crumb, Treasurer; P. E. Saunders, Clerk; M. W. Lake, T. W. Marshall, Charles Wilkinson, John Cullen, Trustees.
The following is a list of the business interests of Harvard : Agricultural implements, Eugene O'Conner, Stearns & Peeters; banks, Harvard Bank, Joseph C. Crumb, President; Axtell's Ex- change Bank, A. E. Axtell, proprietor; blacksmiths, E. J. Smith, J. H. O'Conner, W. H. Milligan, John Cullen, Thomas Collins; barbers, Albert, Edward and George Haffner, Elmer Carpenter;
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cheese-box factory, N. L. Jackson; cheese manufacturers, Milo Munger, Haven Brothers; coal dealers, Thompson & Hodgkins ; wagon manufacturers, Henry Sewger, John Fleming, E. N. Blake & Son, Lewis Whitmars; cigars and tobacco, Gault Brothers; dentist, M. A. Adams; druggists, Samuel Richardson, Groesbeck & Wilkinson; furniture, C. A. Hochschild, Stafford & Gardner ; groceries, Edward Rector, J. M. O'Neil, Jeremiah Sullivan, W. C. Wellington, L. Van Wie & Co .; grain dealers, Hubbard Brothers; harness manufacturers, M. J. Powers & Brother, Mathew Ottman; hotels, H. B. Minier, proprietor of the Railroad Eating House; H. B. Minier, proprietor of Ayer's Hotel; W. B. Walker, pro- prietor of Walker House; hardware, Hunt & Helm, Megraw & Wakley, Marshall, Saunders & Marshall; jewelry, E. D. Beards- ley, Herman Wellstein; liverymen, L. R. Lines, Lake & Logue, D. C. Downs; lumbermen, Lake & Crumb, Wm. D. Hall; lawyer, A. W. Young ; merchants, G. R. Wagar, Sweeney, Cunningham & Dunn, Telcomb & Co., Wm. Foy & Brother, Geo. Ducker, Ru- pert Church, J. H. Callender, H. W. Binnie, Williams Brothers; meat market, Rogers & Stevens, Wm. George & Co., Grovestien & Price, Scott & Walfrom; milliners, Mrs. Mena Smith, Miss Carrie S. Noban; Mrs. Anna M. Howe, Miss Agnes Broughton, Miss Annie Baker; tailor, T. G. Spriggs, Nicholas Lennards; flour-mill, Wood & Co .; physicians, C. M. Johnson, B. H. Wade, J. W. Groesbeck, A. C. Bingham, H. T. Woodruff; photographer, G. W. Parmley; pickle factory, Clark & Brainard, Harvard Pickle Factory, G. T. Barrows, Superintendent; painter, Wm. I. Woos- ter; restaurants, Elmer Simons, Simon Hill, Mrs. Margaret Engel; shoemakers, Henry Bretenfeldt, J. O. Basuler; saloons, Richard Powers, Thomas O'Brien, Walen & Sloey, Wm. McGee, Keating & Rohan, John L. Hayes, E. U. Hayes, Sweeney & O'Brien, Henry Zyschach.
BIOGRAPHICAL.
James L. Anderson, Postmaster, Lawrence, Ill., was born in East Berkshire, Franklin Co., Vt., April 12, 1836, a son of Seth P. and Elvina (Stone) Anderson, natives of Vermont. There was a family of three children-Ira S., a farmer in Vermont, married Elvina Perley; James L. and Mina M., wife of Charles W. Janes, of St. Albans, Vt. James L. remained at home attending school till twenty years of age, and then camne West, and bought a farm near Lawrence, McHenry Co., Ill. He has been Postmaster of Law-
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rence since 1875. Mr. Anderson was married Oct. 25, 1859, to Lydia S. Thompson, a native of Alden, Erie Co., N. Y., a daughter of James C. and Mehitable (Gould) Thompson. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson have had four children-Mina E., born Feb. 4, 1863; Ida F., born July 7, 1864; Ira G., born Sept. 6, 1866, died Feb. 4, 1870, and Mary E., born Sept. 29, 1868. Mina is Principal of the Chemung school; Ida is a teacher in the primary department of the High School, Harvard; Mary is Principal of the Dunham school, a mile south of Harvard. Mr. and Mrs. Anderson are members of the Presbyterian church. Mr. Anderson enlisted in Company B, One Hundred and Fifty-third Illinois Infantry, and served till the close of the war. He is a member of J. B. Manzer Post, No. 215, G. A. R., Harvard. Politically he is a Republican. Mr. Anderson is an extensive bee-keeper, having an apiary of 100 colonies.
Charles Armstrong, a native of Lyme, Conn., was born Jan. 11, 1815, a son of Amaziah and Hannah (Minor) Armstrong, natives of Connecticut. Charles is the second son and the third of eleven children, nine of whom are living. When a child he went to live with an uncle, Jeremiah Stark, in Montgomery County, N. Y., and remained with him till sixteen years of age. He then worked on a farm for himself till 1842, when he came West and lived on Big Foot Prairie, Walworth Co., Wis., till 1846. In June, 1846, he sold his farm in Wisconsin, and bought one in Alden Township, McHenry Co., Ill. In April, 1861, he moved to Harvard and engaged in the lumber business till July, 1862, when he enlisted in Company C, Ninety-fifth Illinois Infantry. The following No- vember he had his ankle crushed by falling while the company were in camp at Jackson, Tenn., and lay in the hospital till Jan. 20, 1863, when he was discharged and came home. In April, 1863, before he was able to walk without the assistance of crutches, he was elected Justice of the Peace, and the next month was commis- sioned, and has since held the office by re-election, with the ex- ception of the year 1877, when he resigned, but was again elected in 1878. For the past four years he has been Township Assessor. In 1870 he opened an agricultural warehouse but sold out, and, with his other duties, carries on a real estate and loan business. Politically he is a Republican. He was married Oct. 16, 1836, to Lucinda Lake, a native of Virgil, N. Y., daughter of Rev. P. W. and Rebecca Lake. Her father was a Baptist clergyman. She was a member of the Methodist Episcopal church. She died Oct. 29,
Jours Respectfully
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1865. Oet. 24, 1866, Mr. Armstrong married Mary L. Lake, a niece of his first wife, and a daughter of Beardsley and Mary (Welch) Lake. To them were born five ehildren-Lula, Charles F., De Los L. (died March 31, 1877), and Clayton C. Mrs. Arm- strong died March 8, 1884.
Alonzo E. Axtell, banker, Harvard, Ill., was born in Friend- ship, Allegany County, N. Y., Feb. 6, 1825, a son of Joseph D. and Eliza (Osman) Axtell, natives of New York. J. D. Axtell was a merchant in New York, but after his removal West he dealt extensively in grain. He died in 1873 and his wife in 1883. They had a family of six children, three of whom are living. Alonzo E. Axtell came West in 1852 and lived in Boone County, Ill., engaged in the general mercantile business, six years. In 1858 he moved to Harvard and is now one of the most prominent business men of the place. He was married Dec. 10, 1846, to Mary M. Lambert, a native of Friendship, N. Y., daughter of Frederick and Sally (Porter) Lambert, natives of Connecticut. Mr. and Mrs. Axtell have one son-Frank F., a commission merchant of Chicago, born in Friendship, N. Y., Oet. 30, 1847. Mr. Axtell is a mem- ber of the Masonic fraternity, lodge and chapter. He has held various offices of trust in the township and has been President of the board. Politically he is a Republican. He has a record of his family dating from John Akstyle, a member of a religious order in Hertfordshire, England, about 1535. Thomas Axtell was baptized at Berhamstead, England, Jan. 2, 1619, and Daniel Axtell, probably a brother, in 1622. Thomas Axtell was undoubt- edly the progenitor of all the Axtells in the United States. His daughter Mary was baptized Sept. 23, 1639, and a son Henry, Oct. 15, 1641. The family left England about 1642. Thomas died in Sudbury, Mass., in 1646. The inventory of his estate is still on record in the Probate Court. Henry, the son, took up land in the new town of Malboro, joining Sudbury, in 1660. He was married in 1665, and April 21, 1676, was killed by the Indians. He left two sons-Thomas, born in 1672, and Daniel, born in 1673. Joseph, son of Thomas, was born in 1705. His son Daniel was born in 1734, and his son Daniel, the grandfather of Alonzo E., was born in 1759, and the father of Alonzo E., Joseph D., was born in 1802.
Elbridge Gerry Ayer, the founder of the village of Harvard, or Harvard Junction, and one of the best known inen in McHenry Connty, is a native of Haverhill, Essex Co., Mass., and a direct
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descendant of John Ayer, who settled in Salisbury in 1640. He removed to Ipswich and later to Haverhill, Mass., his name being on the list of those who held land in that place in 1645. In 1652 he received a share in the second division of " plough land." His name appears in the list of freemen of Haverhill in 1646. This list has the valuation of each man's property; and John Ayer's is recorded at £160, being next to the largest on the list. He died March 31, 1657. There is a complete record of his descendants, published in 1882, in the hands of our subject, E. G. Ayer. For two centuries past the Ayers have been among the prominent families of that and other counties of the "Old Bay State," and descendants of John Ayer are now found in nearly half the States of the Union, several of them residing in Chicago, Ill. The father of Elbridge was Samuel Ayer, a flannel manufacturer of Andover, Mass., and one of the first men in this country to make that line of goods. His grandfather was Daniel Ayer, whose father and one of his (Daniel's) brothers took part in gaining the independence of the colonies. The mother of our subject was Polly Chase, a descendant of Aquila Chase, also an early settler of New England. She was the mother of eight children, four sons and four dangliters, Elbridge being the sixth child and youngest son. He was born in Haverhill, July 25, 1813. Now and then he goes back to the old homestead, eats pears from the trees planted when he was in short clothes, and lives over again the happy days of his childhood. He finished his education at the famous old Bradford Academy when at its head stood Professor Greenleaf, the mathematician, and author of some ofour text books, quite popular forty or fifty years ago. He learned the wool-stapling business at Dedham, Mass., and at twenty years of age went to Albany, N. Y., whither his father had preceded him, and became associated with him in the grocery and provision business. About this time (1834) Mr. Ayer married Miss Mary D. Titcomb, a native of Salem, N. H. Two years after his marriage he emigrated to the West to commence fortune-seeking, locating at first in the Badger State. They landed at Pike River, afterward known as South Port, and now the city of Kenosha. Mr. Ayer took a quantity of merchandise with him and was in trade there nearly eleven years. There his eldest child, Mary A., now the wife of Gilbert R. Smithi, of Harvard, was born Nov. 25, 1836. She was the first white child born in Kenosha. In 1847 Mr. Ayer moved to Walworth, Wis., and there carried on the mercantile business ten years, serving also most of the time
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as Postmaster. In the latter part of that period the Wisconsin division of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad was projected and he tried to put the road through to this place, but failing he came to what is now Harvard. In January, 1856, he pur- chased 400 acres of land, and in the following spring laid out the town of Harvard. Here he has since. resided. At first he was engaged in the mercantile business and in taking care of his real estate and encouraging settlements in the place. In 1858 he took charge of the eating house and hotel. At the end of a year he purchased and enlarged it and for eighteen years kept one of the best hotels and eating houses in this part of the State. In 1876 he rented the premises to Marcus L. Towne, the husband of his daughter Harriet L., who ran the hotel till Jan. 1, 1883, when he sold his interest to H. B. Minier and accepted the superintendency of the eating houses of the Union Pacific Rail- way, with headquarters at Laramie, Wyoming Territory, where he has the Thornburg House. Mr. Minier married Mr. Ayer's third daughter, Julia A. His second daughter, Annie, married A. J. Burbank, at present station agent for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad at Harvard. His youngest daughter, Eva F., is the wife of Arthur E. Law, of St. Paul, Minn. He has two sons, Ed. E., whole- sale dealer in telegraph poles, railway ties, and posts, Chicago, Ill., and Inmber dealer of Arizona, and Henry C., of Flagstaff, Ariz., Secretary, Treasurer and Assistant Superintendent of the Ayer Lumber Company. These mills have a capacity of manufacturing 100,000 feet of lumber, 25,000 shingles, and 25,000 lath per day. Ed. E. Ayer was in California when the civil war broke out and was the first man in the State to enlist, and the youngest in the regiment to which he was assigned, the First California Cavalry. He enlisted as a private, but was promoted to First Lieutenant of his company. He was married Sept. 7, 1865, to Miss Emma Bur- bank. Politically E. G. Ayer was originally a Whig, but since the organization of the Republican party has been one of its strongest supporters. As a hotel-keeper during the war he had many opportunities to show his patriotism, and the kindness and liberality, as hundreds of soldiers, especially those of the North- west, who were fed free of charge, can testify. The following letter was copied from the Wisconsin State Journal:
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, MADISON, July 12, 1865.
E. G. AYER, EsQ., Harvard, Ill.
Dear Sir :- I am informed that on several occasions sick and
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wounded soldiers from Wisconsin have been detained at your place and that you have at all times treated them with great kindness, furnishing them with food when they needed it and otherwise administering to their necessities, and that you have done this with- out pay or expectation of reward, and that you still decline to re- ceive any pay for the many meals furnished this class of persons. or for your services in their behalf. Few as marked cases of dis- interested benevolence and goodness of heart have occurred within my observation, and I would not allow it to pass without assuring you of my appreciation of your services to these sick and wounded heroes. Permit me, sir, in behalf of the noble men whom you have comforted and served, and in behalf of the people of Wiscon- sin, to tender to you their sincere thanks, and to assure you that your kindness to Wisconsin soldiers will not soon be forgotten.
Yours truly, JAMES T. LEWIS, Governor of Wisconsin.
Such a man is Judge Ayer, as he is familiarly called by his friends. Mr. Ayer was the first Freemason made at Kenosha, Wis., Wisconsin Lodge, No. 7. He is a Royal Arch Mason and has held several offices in the order. He has also held a few civil offices in Harvard, but has never sought such honors, contenting himself with simply bearing his share of public duties as a citizen. He has always been held in high esteem for his public spirit, his genial disposition and neighborly kindness. An old neighbor thus writes of him: " Having known him intimately for thirty years, I think he is best known for his benevolence and love of justice and right. During the war he was a most ardent supporter of the Government in all its measures. Frequently in those troublesome times he would furnish victuals for a whole company of soldiers passing through Harvard and Cairo. He then ran the eating house at Harvard, insomuch that his name and fame were house- hold words with the Western soldiers at the front and at home. He preeminently fills the idea of Scripture where it says: 'I was hungry and he gave me meat.'"
Henry Baker, retired farmer and lumber merchant, Harvard, Ill., was born in Long Meadow, N. Y., Nov. 21, 1827. His father, Anstin Baker, was born in Massachusetts, Aug. 20, 1797, and when a young man went to New York State, and as early as 1837 or 1838 came to Illinois and laid a claim near Marengo. While here he helped to build the first mill in Belvidere. He sold his claims and returned to New York, where he died November, 1882.
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He was married Feb. 28, 1821, to Lovina Coney, a native of Hawley, Mass., born Feb. 28, 1802. She died in 1877. To them were born four children-Lucy, born Feb. 2, 1822, wife of Jeremiah Dorn, of Jo Daviess County, Ill .; Almon W., born Oct. 12, 1825, married Betsey Fitch, and resides in Portland, N. Y .; Henry whose name heads this sketch, and Ann Eliza, born June 28, 1834, married Edward Elmore, of Portland, N. Y. Henry Baker remained on the home farm till 1853 when he came to Chicago, and Jan. 18, was married to Anna Eliza Da Lee, a native of Chautauqua County, N. Y., born June 9, 1833, daughter of Rich- ard W. and Hannah M. (Minton) Da Lee, who came to McHenry County in 1852. After his marriage he returned to New York, and in the spring of 1863 moved to Harvard and engaged in the grain and lumber business till 1876 when he purchased a farm of 200 acres in Chemung Township, to which he has since added 160 acres. Mr. and Mrs. Baker have one daughter-Kate C. Monie, born Dec. 31, 1853, now the wife of Edgar M. Titcomb, formerly a merchant of Harvard, but now traveling for a flouring mill in Pontiac, Ill. She has one child-Grace Baker, born April 23, 1875. Mrs. Baker's father came to Illinois in 1852 and bought a farm in Alden Township, McHenry County. He was Postmaster of Harvard four years. Mr. Baker is a descendant of Edward Baker, who came from England and settled on the south side of " Baker's Hill," in Lynn, Mass., in 1630. He was admitted a freeman in 1638. All that is known of his wife is that her name was Joan or Jane, and that she died April 9, 1693. In 1657 he moved from Lynn to Northampton, where he had several grants of land and bought a number of lots. He held many of the towni offices and lived in Northampton till his death. Mr. Baker's maternal grand- father, John R. Coney, was a soldier in the Revolutionary war.
Jacob Barth, deceased, came to McHenry County, Ill., in No- vember, 1866, and settled in Chemung Township. In 1868 he went to Nebraska and worked on the Burlington & Missouri River Rail- road till the fall of 1870, and then returned to McHenry County and settled on the farm where his family reside, where he died March 23, 1884. Mr. Barth was a son of Jacob and Eva (Phillippe) Barth and was born in Buffalo, N. Y., Jan. 22, 1836. His parents were natives of Paris, France. They were married in their native country and soon after came to America and settled in Newbern, N. C .; subsequently moved to Erie County, N. Y. Jacob Barth was educated in New York and remained with his parents till after
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lis marriage, and then moved to Coldwater, Mich., and remained till his removal to McHenry County. He was married Oct. 14, 1860, to Mary Eggleston, a native of Lancaster, N. Y., born Nov. 6, 1842, a daugliter of Willis F. and Sarah A. (Crill) Eggleston. To them were born three children-Willis J., born in Coldwater, Mich., Aug. 26, 1861; George W., born Feb. 17, 1874; Frank A., born Feb. 11, 1879. Mr. Barth was a member of Chemung Lodge, No. 258, F. & A. M. He was an energetic farmer, and one of the representative business men of the county.
Robert Beck, farmer and stock-raiser, sections 21 and 28, Che- mung Township, was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, a son of John and Isabel (Maconnell) Beck, natives of County Armagh, Ireland. He is the second child and eldest son of eight sons and three daughters. When nineteen years of age he came with his brother James to America and located in McHenry County, Ill. He worked at farming in Dunham and Chemung townships, McHenry County, and LeRoy Township, Boone County, and at gardening in Chicago four years and a half, and then returned to Ireland on a visit, and while there met the lady who subsequently became his wife. After a visit of seven months he returned to America and went to Canada West, where he worked at lumber- ing and in a saw-mill two years; then returned to Chemung, Ill., and soon after settled in Dunham Township. In 1873 he settled on the farm where he now resides. He owns 100 acres of choice land, all under cultivation. Mr. Beck is one of the leading far- mers of the township, and during a residence of twenty-five years has seen the country undergo many important changes. He was married in Woodstock, Ill., Feb. 25, 1867, to Anna J. Lynn, a native of County Tyrone, Ireland, daughter of William and Mary A. (Miller) Lynn. They have four sons-William J., born Jan. 10, 1868; Frederick R. R., born Sept. 23, 1871; Alexander A., born Nov. 3, 1876, and Earl H., born March 18, 1882. Mr. and Mrs. Beck are members of the Episcopal church.
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