USA > Illinois > DeKalb County > Past and present of DeKalb County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 51
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father was a farmer and throughout his entire life provided for his family by following that occupation. There were five children born of his first marriage and seven of the second marriage, of which number David Waddell was the fifth in order of birth. Four of the number are now de- ceased. Two of the brothers. Joseph and Marion, were soldiers of the Civil war.
David Waddell of this review was reared to farm life in Belmont county, Ohio, carly becom- ing familiar with all the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. He was a young man of twenty-two years when he offered his services to the government. enlisting on the 9th of November, 1861. as a member of Company H. Sixty-fifth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. This command was assigned to the Western Army. MI :. Waddell, however, was detailed for special duty in connection with the building of corduroy roads and pontoon bridges in Kentucky. On the 20th of September. 1862. he was honorably discharged lxccause of disability and remained at home until 1864, when he re-enlisted, this time becoming a member of Company F. One Hundred and Ser- enty-second Regiment. for one hundred days' serv- ice. Again he remained at the front until hon- orally discharged and he once more enlisted April 10. 1865. continuing at the front until the close of the war. when in September. 1865. he was mus- tered out. He did active service in Kentucky, Tennessee, Maryland. Virginia, Delaware and Ohio and participated in the capture of Morgan when he made his raid through the Buckeye state. Whether on the firing line or on the lonely picket line he was always faithful to his duty and he is now one of the honored veterans of the war who has every reason to feel proud of what he did in defense of the Union.
Mr. Waddell came to De Kalb county in 1867. locating at Sandwich, Illinois, where he remained for one year. ITe then came to De Kalb and was employed on a farm near the city. Later he worked in the barb wire factory at a time when barbs were put on by hand. As the years have passed he has saved from his earnings a goodly property, which now yields him a fair income and largely releases him from the necessity for further labor. but indolence and idleness are utterly for- cign to his nature and he therefore engages to some extent in gardening. He owns some lots in
the city, together with his residence -- a beautiful home-at No. 139 South Fourth street.
Mr. Waddell was married in Belmont county, Ohio, March 21, 1896. to Mrs. Margaret Leyster Wallace. His political support is given the repub- hean party and he is a member of Merritt Simmonds post, No. 283, G. A. R. His life in both its mili- tary and civic relations has been honorable and upright and he has justly earned the high regard of his friends and neighbors, who entertain for hmm a warm measure of affection and who give In their good will and confidence.
LAWRENCE F. P. BROCK.
Lawrence F. P. Brock, a farmer residing in Affon township, was born in Paterson. New Jer- sey. December 10, 1853. His parents were Pat- rick and Catherine ( Fitzpatrick) Brock. natives of Ireland. The father crossed the Atlantic to Brooklyn, New York, when he was a mere boy, and there lived for several years and then moved to Paterson, New Jersey, where he made his home until 1854, when he came to De Kalb county, Illinois, settling in Afton township. Securing land he engaged in farming and was blessed with prosperity. continuing actively in the business until 1893. when he retired to private life and removed to De Kalb, where he now resides at the age of ninety years. His wife died in De Kalb. September 27. 1894. aged sixty-one years. He never had canse to regret his determination to seek a home in the new world for here, as the years passed by. he won success through his unfaltering industry and perseverance.
Lawrence F. P. Brock pursued his education in the district schools of Afton township. Being of a literary turn of mind and naturally studious. he spent his leisure hours in reading the produe- tions of the most famous authors of both ancient and modern times. He is a well informed man. possessing a knowledge unequaled by many men who have had the advantage of a college course. Ilis entitre life has been devoted to general agri- cultural pursuits, which he carries on along prae- tical and scientific lines. He owns and operates one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 1. and also owns eighty acres, which he rents. on the
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same section. AH is well improved and till- able and his fields bring to him rich harvests in return for the care and labor he bestows upon them.
On January 25, 1826. Mr. Brock was married to Miss Sarah Murray who was born in Miami county, Ohio, and was a daughter of Patrick and Sarah Murray. Her father came to De Kalb county, Illinois, in 1861. He died April 18, 1889, but the mother is living with her son Peter in De Kalb. Mr. and Mrs. Brock have become the parents of four children : Catherine, born August 4, 1878; Sarah, born October 2. 1880; Martin. born May 16, 1885; and John, born October 23. 1887.
In his political views Mr. Brock was originally a democrat and supported that party until Presi- dent MeKinley's first administration since which time he has given his allegiance to the republican party. His fellow townsmen. recognizing his worth and ability, have frequently called him to public office. Ile has served as tax-collector for two years and has been school director for a quar- ter of a century, still filling that position. He and his wife are members of the Catholic church of De Kalb and he is interested in all thai per- tains to the general welfare and stands loyal in support of many measures for the material, intel- lectual and moral progress of the community.
JOSEPH F. AURNER.
Joseph F. Aurner, who is engaged in general farming on sections 22 and 27. Kingston town- ship, has an excellent property of one hundred and ten acres adjoining the corporation limits of the village of Kingston. There he has well developed fields and raises good grades of stock. Every- thing about his place is neat and thrifty in ap- pearance and indicates his careful supervision.
Mr. Aurner was born upon the farm which ad- joins his present property, his natal day being October 18. 1853. His father, Leonard Aurner. a native of Ohio, was there reared and having reached man's estate he wedded Margaret Dibbell, a native of Delaware county. New York. They were married, however, in St. Joseph, Michigan, and in 1847 removed to Illinois, settling in De
Kalb county, where Mr. Aurner pre-empted and bought land and opened up the farm that is now owned and occupied by his son William. Ilis remaining days were given to general agricultural pursuits and he spent his last years here, passing away in 1900. at the very venerable age of ninety years. He had long survived his wife. who died in 1865.
Joseph F. Aurner is one of a family of five sons and two daughters, and four of the brothers and his sisters are yet living. No event of special im- portance occurred to vary the routine of farm life for him in his boyhood days. He worked in the fields. aided in the care of the stock and pursued his education through the months in which school was held, attending at Kingston, Sycamore and De Kalb. When not busy with his text-books his labors were devoted to the work of the fields and he remained upon the home farm until twenty- two years of age, when he went to Chicago. There he engaged in the real-estate and other business for eight years. Returning to Kingston, he lo- cated on the farm where he now resides. This was in the year 1893 and he has since successfully carried on general agricultural pursuits.
On the 25th of December of the same year Mr. Aurner made further arrangements for having a home of his own by his marriage to Miss Lizzie Iplinger, who was born in Pennsylvania and was brought to Illinois in her childhood days by her father, John Uplinger. who settled on a farm in Kingston township in 1866. Mrs. Aurner was reared and educated here and came as a bride to the farm upon which she is now living. Mr. Anrner has since greatly improved his place, has made additions to the barn, has remodeled the house, has planted much fruit and has fenced his fields with woven and barb wire. He has also tiled the land, thus enhancing its productiveness. and has altogether made a valuable place. In con- nection with the tilling of the soil he likewise raises and feeds stock, keeping hogs and cattle. He handles largely the shorthorn cattle and owns a fine pure blooded registered male and some high grade cows. He is now feeding a number of steers for the market and his stock-raising interests are proving profitable.
Mr. and Mrs. AAurner have one daughter. Edith V., who is a student in the high school. The par- ents are members of the Methodist Episcopal
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church and are active and earnest workers in its behalf, Mr. Aurner serving as assistant superin- tendent of the Sunday school for some time and now as one of its teachers. Politically he is a stal- wart republican but has never sought for nor con- sented to hold office. save that for one term he served on the village board. IIe belongs to the Knights of the Globe and is well known in Kings- ton and throughout the county. The greater part of his life has here been passed, his residence covering most of the period since 1853. He has therefore seen the many changes that have occur- red as the county has thrown off its pioneer con- ditions and taken on the evidences of an advanced and modern civilization. In his business affairs, too. he has been active and energetic and is today enjoying richly merited success.
JOSEPH FARWELL GLIDDEN.
Joseph Farwell Glidden, "the grand old man of De Kalb county," who considered the pursuits of private life as abundantly worthy of his best efforts, won honor. fame, success and the plaudits of the world, and yet caring little for these, lie concentrated his interests. energies and attention upon his home county. labored persistently for its advancement and growth and at the same time promoted private business interests which have made the name of De Kalb famous throughout the world. This is pre-eminently the age of inven- tion. and America has been foremost in giving to the world the great time and labor saving de- vices which have revolutionized trade and manu- facture. The subject always closest to Mr. Glid- den's heart. however, was agriculture and it was for the improvement and the attainment of perfec- tion along that line that he lived and labored. ITis life record covered almost ninety-four years and the world was enriched not only by his efforts in the business but by a memorable showing forth of the utmost fidelity to principle and to the high- est standard of human conduet.
Mr. Glidden came of a family distinctly Amer- ican in both its lineal and collateral branches for many generations. He was born January 18, 1813. in Charlestown. Sullivan county, New
Hampshire. a son of David and Polly (Hurd) Glidden, both of whom were natives of the old Granite state, in which they were also married. During the infancy of their son Joseph they re- moved to Orleans county, New York, where they remained until 1844, when they started for the middle west, then largely a frontier district. After a short residence in Ogle county, Illinois, they came to De Kalb county, spending their remain- ing days in the home of their son, Joseph F.
Reared to agricultural pursuits, Mr. Glidden ever maintained the deepest interest in everything connected with farm life and he found his great- est pleasure in his agricultural labors, delight- ing in the growth that was everywhere manifest in his fields and taking also the greatest pride in his stock-raising interests. His boyhood and youth made him familiar with farm work of various kinds, for through the summer months he assisted in the plowing. planting and harvest- ing, while in the winter season he mastered the branches of learning taught in the common schools until his early scholastic training prepared him for more advanced work. He studied algebra and the classics, hoping that he might have the on- portunity of pursuing a collegiate course but this plan was finally abandoned. He was, however, for a time a student in Middlebury Academy, in Gene- see county, and in the seminary at Lima. New York.
He then engaged in teaching for a few years but regarded farming as a more congenial occupa- tion and rented land. He had no money to buy but he knew that in the Mississippi valley there stretehed aere after acre of broad prairie uncul- tivated, which would respond readily to the care and labor bestowed upon it and with the hope of securing a farm of his own he came to Illinois in the fall of 1842. Leaving the Empire state, he proceeded to Detroit with two threshing ma- chines of primitive construction and spent thirty days on the wheat farms of Michigan, operating his threshers with the assistance of his brother Willard and two other men. He subsequently shipped his machines to Chicago and thence to De Kalb county, where he followed threshing for two years. In this way he gained some capital and the winter following his arrival saw the ful- fillment of his hope of one day owning a farm of his own. Ile purchased six hundred acres of land
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on seetion 22, De Kalb township, a mile west of the village and at once began to develop and im- prove this.
The city of De Kalb was then a small town of a few log cabins and unpretentious dwellings. It was destined to become through the efforts of Mr. Glidden a manufacturing center of much impor- tanee, its trade interests reaching out to all parts of the world. For many years after his arrival, however, his time and energies were concentrated upon the task of breaking the sod and bringing the fields under cultivation and up to the time of his death he retained the ownership of his first farm, making it his homestead property and hav- ing for it the deepest attachment. As the years passed by he added to it all modern conveniences and accessories, transforming it into a model farm property. His progressive spirit was the stimulus which awakened in others a desire for advancement and improvement, and he exerted an influence immeasurable upon the agricultural life of this part of the state. Realizing that real- estate is the safest of all investments and tinding great pleasure in the improvement of farms and the co-operation with nature, which is the life of the agrieulturist, he kept adding to his property until at the time of his death he was the owner of sixteen hundred aeres. He was also interested in raising fine stock and splendid specimens were seen upon his Illinois farms, while in connection with H. B. Sanborn he was the owner of a cattle ranch in Texas, where they herded about sixteen hundred head of cattle. They owned two hundred and eighty sections of land, covering two hundred and eighty square miles of territory and requiring one hundred and fifty miles of fencing. After developing this property to a large extent Mr. Glidden gave it to his daughter. Mrs. Bush.
Had he done nothing else save to extend his realty holdings and cultivate his own farms, Mr. Glidden's life would be considered a success such as would entitle him to more than passing men- tion in a volume of this character. But the world knows him as the inventor of the barbed wire. and his name figures in connection with that of Fulton, Whitney. Morse, Bell. McCormick and others as one of the foremost inventors of the age. The lack of timber in Illinois made lumber for fencing very expensive and how to obtain fencing material at a low price was a problem
which presented itself to many without solution. Some attempted to obviate the difficulty with only partial success. As early as 1867 barb wire had been invented, but it was imperfect and further study and labor were required to make it a mar- ketable commodity. Mr. Glidden was a practical agriculturist. His own broad acres required fenc- ing and occasioned his study of the subject. Care- ful thought. investigation and experiment fol- lowed, and October, 1843, he applied for a pat- ent. which was granted the next spring. He did not here end his labors but continued his work of improvements and tested the utility of his inven- tion by the use of his feneing on his own farm. The barbs were eut by hand and afterward the parts of an old coffee mill were extemporized as a machine for coiling them about the wire. When a piece twenty or thirty feet long had been barbed. a smooth wire was placed beside it and one end was fastened to a tree and the other at- tached to the axle of a grindstone, which by turn- ing with a crank gave it the required twist. Hav- ing secured his patents Mr. Glidden entered into partnership with I. L. Ellwood, a hardware mer- chant of De Kalb and a practical man of affairs, who was placed in charge of the business manage- ment and operations were begun under the firm name of Glidden & Ellwood. There is no doubt, however. that Mr. Glidden was the inventor of the perfected barb wire now in use. He applied for his patent in 1873. His claim was acknowl- edged and he secured it. He sold his interest in 1876 but continued to draw his royalties until 1891. He was the inventor of all essential feat- ures of barb wire machines now in use, and to him was due the credit for giving to the people of the west a cheap and serviceable substitute for the stone. rail or wooden fences once in use. As time passed the business grew and was removed from the farm to the village, where a small factory was established, and here the improvement was made of using horse power to do the twisting. the barbs being slipped on to one end of the wire and then placed the proper distance apart by hand. In 1845 the company built the first part of the old brick shop, put in a small steam engine which was made to do the twisting, and Mr. Glidden and P. W. Vaughn obtained a patent for some devices for barbing and spooling that proved of efficient aid to the workmen.
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In 1816 Mr. Glidden sold his interest in the business to the Washburn & Moen Manufacturing Company, of Worcester, Massachusetts, and the effectiveness and utility of the new invention hav- in:g been fully demonstrated the business increased with astonishing rapidity. Mr. Glidden realized a fortune from his invention. obtaining a large royalty until 1891. Business cares, however, he never laid aside. Indolence and idleness were utterly foreign to his nature, and he devoted many hours each day to the superintendence of his busi- ness interests. He was the owner of the De Kalb Roller Mills. was vice president of the De Kalb National Bank from its organization in 1883, and was proprietor of the Glidden House, making a very genial and popular landlord. He was ever willing to aid the industrious and his indus- tries were such as promoted the publie prosperity as well as advanced individual success.
His deep interest in public affairs and the wel- fare of the community was shown by his liberal donation of sixty-four acres of land to the Normal School. provided the institution was located in De Kalb. This land was a part of his old home- stead and had been entered by him from the gor- ernment when Indians still crossed it with their trails. At the suggestion of Jacob Haish, and in the presence of about one hundred and fifty citi- zens, Mr. Glidden broke the soil with a lead pencil preparatory to building. as this little utensil was considered emblematic of literature and educa- tion. He always voted the democratic ticket and was loyal and stanch in support of the principles of his party. on whose ticket he was elected county sheriff in 1852. being the last democratie official of the county.
Mr. Glidden was twice married. He was mar- ried in 1837, in Clarendon. New York, to Clarissa Foster, and when he started westward he left his wife and two children in New York, but both of the latter died before Mrs. Glidden came to the west. She died in Ogle county in June, 1843, and a daughter born at that time died in early infanes. The children of that marriage were Virgil, Homer and Clarissa. In October. 1851. in Kane county. Illinois, Mr. Glidden wedded Lucinda. daughter of Henry Warne, and they had one daughter. Elva Frances, now the wife of W. H. Bush. a merchant of Chicago. Mrs. Glidden died in 1895. Mr. Glidden was a man of domestic tastes and his home was to
him the dearest spot on earth. The interests of his wife and daughter were ever paramount with him. and friendship was always inviolable. Few men had more devoted friends than he, and none ex- celled him in unselfish devotion and unswerving fidelity to the worthy recipients of confidence and friendship. While his invention won him world wide fame. these qualities gained him the respect and warm regard of all whom he met personally and as one of Illinois' most prominent and worthy citizens he was numbered.
Full of years and honor Joseph F. Glidden passed to his final rest, after he had reached the ninety-third milestone on life's journey. The fu- neral service was one of the most memorable ever held in the history of this part of the state. The great majority of the citizens of De Kalb county knew him personally and all recognized the value of his service to the county and honored him for what he had done. Men and women from every walk of life came to pay their last tribute of re- spect and many distinguished citizens from vari- ous parts of the state attended the obsequies. The world knew him as a manufacturer, his fellow townsmen knew him as a man of faultless honor and of faithful friendship. Sometimes brusque in manner, he had the kindly spirit that responded readily to every call of distress, to every demand upon his sympathy.
Isaac Ellwood in speaking of his relation with Mr. Glidden through the many years of a busi- ness partnership, said: "In all those years there never was a word of dispute between us. I re- member his many deeds of charity for the poor. How often I remember when men that were work- ing for us would come in and want to draw their salary or a portion of it before the month was cut. They would always go to Mr. Glidden and he would say. 'Why let him have it. If he don't pay it I will.' He had the deepest interest in those who worked for him and in return received their unfaltering devotion and loyalty." It was well known that he would not sell an acre of land or a head of live stock. He had the deepest at- tachment for the old home farm. on which ?? many years were passed and the development of which was one of his greatest sources of delight, and when it was desired that a portion of this farm be purchased for normal uses. Mr. Ellwood approached him reluctantly. knowing his feeling
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upon the subject. It was to him parting with a treasure most dear, something above a moneyed value and with the deepest emotion he replied to Mr. Ellwood when asked concerning the purchase, "I won't sell it," but after a few minutes thought he held out his hand and said, "I will give it io you." And he did. He gave, moreover, gener- ously and freely to the support of not only educa- tional institutions but to charities and churches as well. His own philosophy was broad. He was actuated in all that he did by a humanitarian spirit that recognized individual responsibility and duty but it was not this alone that prompted his beneficence. It was a real, deep and sincere inter- est in his fellowmen, his neighbors and friends -- those among whom he had lived and labored for so many years, while between him and them there was an interchange of genuine regard, affection and good will. As the day with its morning of hope and promise, its noontide of activity, its evening of successful and accomplished effort end- ing in the grateful rest and quiet of the night, so was the life of this man.
ARCHIE GOODWILLIE KENNEDY.
Archie Goodwillie Kennedy, city attorney and one of the leading lawyers of De Kalb, was born in Washington county, Pennsylvania, on the 24th of August, 1866. His parents were David S. and Nancy W. ( Kelly) Kennedy. The father was born in Mahoning county, Pennsylvania, in April, 1835, and was a son of William and Elizabeth (Reid) Kennedy. He was educated for the min- istry and was graduated from Westminster Col- lege at New Wilmington, Pennsylvania, after which he was ordained as a preacher of the United Presbyterian church. His first charge was at Midway. Washington county, Pennsylvania, and later he was called to the church of his denomina- tion at Sewickley, Pennsylvania. In 1878 he ac- cepted the pastorate of the church at Somonauk, Illinois, where he filled the pulpit for fifteen years, or until the time of his retirement from the active work of the ministry in 1893. He then removed to Chicago but in 1898 returned to De Kalb county, and while building a residence on the farm which he owned here he passed away in the month
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