USA > Illinois > DeKalb County > Past and present of DeKalb County, Illinois, Volume I > Part 70
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In 1841 Judge Mayo settled at Sycamore, Illi- nois, and for many years was the acknowledged leader of the bar of De Kalb county. As a lawyer and a man he was prominently identified with its early history. In politics he was a democrat and in 1851 was the candidate of that party for con- gress but was defeated, the district being strongly republican. IIo was three times elected county judge, notwithstanding his politics and the fact that he belonged to a party casting the minority vote. He was on intimate terms of friendship with the leading men of the state, among thein being Stephen A. Douglas, Judge John D. Caton and Lyman Trumbull. In 1860 he became a "war democrat" and was in full sympathy with the Union cause. His integrity and honor were never questioned. Possessed of a legal mind. it was among his professional brethren who knew him best and were best able to judge that he was most appreciated.
Judge Mayo died in De Kalb, November 16. 181. at the age of seventy years, leaving a widow and one son. Dr. Edward L. Mayo, of De Kal .. and three daughters: Mrs. John W. Buist, of Sycamore : Mrs. Thomas E. Bagley, of Genoa ; and Miss Katherine Mayo, of De Kalb. Six of his children had died in infancy. He was of French Huguenot descent and during the greater part of his life was an active worker in the cause of tem- perance.
JAMES V. MENNIS.
James V. Mennis, who for some years has car- ried on general blacksmithing in De Kalb and m which connection he is known as a worthy repro- sentative of industrial interests here, was born June 1. 1848. in St. Lawrence county, New York. His father. Samuel Mennis, was a native of Ire- land, who emigrated to the new world in his boy- hood days, settling in the state of New York. There he married Miss Johanna Post, who was born in that state. They continued to reside in
the east until 1859, when they came westward to Clinton township, De Kalb county, Illinois, where the father secured land and engaged in farming until 1865. He then removed to Oregon, this state, where he spent his remaining days, his death occuring in 1822. His widow long survived him, passing away in De Kalb in 1895. The members of the family are as follows: William, a carpenter of Kansas City, Missouri: S. F., a teamster of Kansas City; James V .. of this review; A. P., a retired farmer and postmaster at Early, Iowa ; C. S., deceased : and Etta, wife of Charles Hiland. deceased.
In taking up the personal history of James V. Mennis, we present to our readers the life record of one who is widely and favorably known in De Kalb and this part of the county. He was edu- cated in the district schools and worked at farm labor until he attained his majority, when he be- gan learning the blacksmithing trade in Clinton township. There he remained until 1823, when he removed to De Kalb and began business on his own account. Four years later he entered the em- joy of the I. L. Ellwood Manufacturing Com- pany, with which he continued as a blacksmith for nineteen years. He then again engaged in busi- ness for himself at No. 235 South First street. where he has since been located and is today the oldest blacksmith in years and continuous con- nection with the business in the city. He has pros- pered in his undertakings and is meeting with well deserved success.
Happily situated in his home life, Mr. Mennis was married on June 6. 1876. to Miss Rose Hough- ton, of De Kalb township, daughter of George and Betsy Houghton, early residents of this county. Mr. and Mrs. Mennis have one daughter, Bertha Louise who was born September 22. 1884, and is a graduate of the De Kalb high school. She is now the wife of Rev. M. E. Dutt, a minister of the Christian church, and both are now attending college at Lexington. Kentucky.
Mr. Mennis is a stalwart republican where na- tional questions are involved. but at local elec- tions he casts an independent ballot. regarding only the capability of the candidate. He belongs to the Modern Woodman camp at De Kalb, also the Mystic Workers, and he and his wife are de- voted members of the Baptist church, of which he has been a deacon for five years. He owns a
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good home at No. 512 South Third street and is now comfortably situated in life, as the result of untiring diligence and perseverance.
PROFESSOR GEORGE SILAS PECK.
Professor George Silas Peck, the founder and promotor of the George S. Peck School of Music in De Kalb, was born in Burlington, Wisconsin. December 15, 18:1. His paternal grandfather: Silas Peck, removing westward from the state of New York. located at Burlington, Wisconsin, at d very early period in the development of that part of the state and in fact named the town and laid ont the streets. He served as a soldier in the Union army during the war of the Rebellion and died at Burlington at an advanced age. His son. William II. Peck, father of our subject, was born in Burlington, Wisconsin. in 1838 and was a printer by trade. Having reached adult age, he married Laura Jones, who was born in Burling- ton in 1848. William Peck is now deceased but the mother is still living. In the family were six children.
Professor Peck, the second in order of birth. pursued his preliminary education in the public schools, passing through successive grades until he was graduated from the high school in Wash- ington. Washington county. Kansas. lle finihsed his course at the Concordia ( Kansas) Business College. His mother being a music teacher and possessingmuch natural talent along musical lines, Professor Peek received excellent training from her in his art and afterward studied in the Leroy Brown College of Music at Chicago. After leav- ing college he took up bookkeeping, which he fol- lowed for two and a half years, when he aban- doned that work in order to devote his entire time to teaching mandolin, guitar, violin and banjo music. Ile also is well known as a composer of music and for his arrangement of musical com- positions and many of his own pieces have been used by high class orchestras, including the For- est Nymph Waltz: Sleep. My Little One, a lulla- by : the Jolly Blacksmith and others.
Coming to Illinois in 1891, he located in Chi- cago. where he remained until 1903. when he
came to De Kalb. Here he entered into active professional work, organizing the George S. Peck School of Music, which has been very successful, having a liberal patronage from the beginning. Professor Peck is a thoroughly competent teaeher, for added to his own extensive knowledge of the art he has the ability to impart readily and clearly to others the knowledge that he has aequired. Gifted by nature with musical talent, he has de- veloped his latent powers and has made continuous advancement in his profession.
On the 6th of January. 1895. in Kenosha, Wis- consin, Mr. Peck was united in marriage to Miss Hattie Peterson. who was born in Chicago. March 26. 1815. Iler father, Charles Peterson, was born in Sweden about 1845 and came to America in 1814, settling in Chicago. His wife, who bore the maiden name of Christine Adams, was like- wise born in Sweden in 1845 and they were mar- ried in their native land. In the Peterson family were five children, of whom Mrs. Peek is the third. She is a member of the First Congregational church of De Kalb and is a most estimable lady who has many friends.
Professor Peck gives his political allegiance to the republican party and is a member of the Royal League, No. 133. lle and his wife reside at No. 627 North Seventh street in De Kalb. where they have a pleasant home, attractive by reason of its warm-hearted hospitality and by the excellent music which is there furnished. Profes- sor Peck is most thorough in his art and has done excellent work as an instructor as well as a performer. He is a student, giving much time to the mastery of music as set forth by the best composers, and his own compositions and skill with various instruments have placed him far beyond the mediocre among the more successful few.
WILLIAM H. BARK.
William II. Bark, who is living a retired life upon his farm on section 3. Somonauk township. was for more than forty years one of the active and progressive farmers of the county. He has lived within the borders of the county for more
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than a half century, dating his residence from 1854, while in May, 1850, he took up his abode in La Salle county, Illinois. He is one of the worthy citizens that New York has furnished to this state. his birth having occurred in Fayetteville, Onon- daga county, New York, July 25, 1831. His father, Herdman Bark, was a native of England and when about twenty years of age crossed the Atlantic, taking up his abode in Rensselaer county, New York, whence he afterward went to Onondaga county. He was a contractor and jobber. While living in the Empire state he married Luana Holcomb, a native of New York. in which state they continued to reside until 1850, their children all being born there.
William H. Bark was reared in the county of his nativity and acquired his education in the public schools but the system of public instruc- tion then was very crude compared to the modern methods of teaching. Coming west when a young man in 1850, he settled upon a farm in La Salle county, Illinois. There he remained for four months when, in September of that year, he re- turned to New York. His father and the family came to Illinois in the fall of 1850 and lived upon a farm in La Salle county until 1853. when they came to De Kalb county. Here again IIerdman Bark turned his attention to general agricultural pursuits, carrying on the active work of the farm until his life's labors were ended in death in 1879. when he was seventy-nine years of age. His wife survived him a number of years.
William H. Bark of this review is one of a family of three sons and three daughters who reached mature years, but he and his brother George, the latter of Sandwich, are now the only survivors. Following his parents' removal to Illi- nois he remained for one year in Onondaga county. New York, and in 1851 again went to La Salle county, where he spent two years, after which he came to De Kalb county. He made preparation for having a home of his own by his marriage in Somonauk township, January 1, 1857, to Miss Louisa C. Wright, a native of New York, having been born in Monroe county, where she was reared and spent her girlhood days. Her father, Levi Wright, became one of the pioneers of La Salle county.
Mr. Bark rented land for seven years after his marriage and then purchased a farm in Sandwien township, comprising eighty-nine acres. With resolute purpose he took up the task of tilling the soil and farmed the place for a number of years, after which he bought the farm upon which he now resides, comprising one hundred and seven- teen acres of well improved land. He carried on both farms for a number of years and continued in the active work of tilling the soil until 1899. IIe also raised good stock, including cattle and hogs, and his farm in its different departments brought him good financial returns. He found a ready sale for his stock and crops and as the years went by he gained a goodly competence that now enables him to live retired.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Bark were born seven chil- dren, who are still living: Lillian Louise, now the wife of William Fraser, who is mentioned elst- where in this work; Addie Mary, now the wife of Neal MeInnis, of Big Rock, Kane county, Illinois; Dora A., the wife of Zac Taylor of Hinckley, Illi- nois; Clara, the wife of Frank B. Elliott, a busi- ness man of Chicago: William L., who follows farming on his father's land; Edmond Thomas, a farmer of Somonauk township; and Clarence Herbert. of Sandwich. They also lost one son, George Clayton, who died at the age of fourteen years. The mother of these children died May 12, 1895, and Mr. Bark was again married on the 23d of August, 1897, his second union being with Mrs. Permelia E. Austin, the widow of Giles Austin and a daughter of Edward Wright. one of the early settlers of this county.
Mr. Bark has been a member of the Odd Fellows lodge since 1855, joining the organization at Somonauk and later transferring his membership to Sandwich lodge. He cast his first presidential ballot for John C. Fremont in 1856. supported Stephen A. Douglas in 1860 and has since been a democrat where national questions are at issue but casts an independent local ballot. His farm and his business interests have claimed his time and attention to the exclusion of all desire for publie office or active participation in political affairs. Fifty-seven years have come and gone since he arrived in Illinois and that many are the changes which have occurred is indicated by the fact that
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land which originally sold for one dollar and a William Marshall Sebree is mentioned elsewhere quarter an acre when he first came, is now worth one hundred and fifty dollars per acre. He has seen the establishment of Somonauk, Sandwich and Atlanta, as well as other places, and has wit- nessed the development of the county as it has merged from pioneer conditions, leaving behind the log cabins and unbroken prairie, and taken on the evidences of modern civilization with its fine homes. its well developed farms and its sub- stantial commercial and industrial enterprises.
MRS. ELLEN AUGUSTA SEBREE HOWELL. !
Mrs. Ellen Augusta Sebree Howell was born January 15, 1846, in Squaw Grove township. De Kalb county. and died at Hinckley in 1904. She was a daughter of John S. Sebree, the first per- manent white resident of De Kalb county. Mrs. Howell's grandfather. Robert Sebree, was a native of Virginia. Robert Sebrce became a pioneer resi- dent of Kentucky, where he and his son John S. became the managers of a boat line on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Later J. S. Sebrce lo- cated in Floyd county. Indiana, where he was united in marriage with Sarah Jane Bateman, who was born February 2. 1810, and died at Hinck- ley. Illinois, October 18, 1881. The Sebree fami- lies Robert and wife, their sons, John S .. wife and son. William Marshall and William J. and wife-were the first three permanent white settlers of Squaw Grove township.
William Johnson Sebree, son of Robert Sebree. was born October 20. 1805, and married Miss In- diavia Keerns, who was born January 11. 1813. Their daughter, Martha JJane ( Sebree) Jackson. was the first white child born in De Kalb county. Her birth occurred in Squaw Grove township Oc- toler 18. 1835, and she became the wife of Amos Jackson. She died at Jamestown. Minnesota. in June. 1902. Mrs. Jackson has three sisters: Hos- ter. Ann Sebree, born August 5. 1839. and now deceased : Mary Elizabeth Sebree, who was born January 3. 1845. and is also deceased : and Etta Sobre West, first wife of Wesley West, father of the Misses Bertha and Louella West of De Kalb.
Robert Sebree's son, John S. Sebrse, and Sarah Jane Sebree were the parents of five children:
in this work. Matilda Jane was born May 14, 1835, and on the 6th of March, 1856, became the wife of Isaac Shackleton. James Harrison Sebree, whose birth occurred JJune 22, 1837, wedded Maria Bandell August 3. 1863. Itis death occurred July 23, 1812, and their son, John Sebree, is now a resident of Hinckley. Mary Alice, who was born December 2:, 1843. was married October 2, 1863, to a Mr. Putnam. Ellen AAngusta, whose name in- troduees this sketch, was married June 28, 1868, to Stephen llowell.
Upon the death of her parents Mrs. Howell in- herited some three hundred acres of the most valu- able land of Squaw Grove township. Mr. and Mrs. Ilowell for the first quarter of a century after their marriage occupied the first house west of the corporate limits of the village of Hinckley. Howell's Park, the popular and well known resort for pienies. is a part of their property. For years Mr. Howell has been extensively engaged in breeding and training driving horses and many of the first horses of the county came from his stables. He has also had large dairy interests and has conducted a milk route at Ilinekley. They were classed among the leading citizens and have always been prominent in business, church and social affairs of the com- munity.
SANFORD SWANBUM.
Sanford Swanbum. one of the foremost me- chanics of the middle west. having brought forth many of the most important inventions in con- nection with the barb wire industry and now oc- cupying a position as foreman in the plant of the American Steel & Wire Company at De Kalb. has been connected with this factory through practically the entire period of his business career, a fact which indicates the value of his services to the company.
ITis life record began in Sweden on the 11th of August. 1861. his parents being Joseph and Sophia (Sandburg) Swanbum. The father was born abont 1833 and was reared to farm life in his native country. Abont 1869 he emigrated to the United States, locating near Batavia. Illinois. where he found employment on a farm. After
MRS ELLEN HOWELL
كتـ THE NEW YORK! PUBLIC LIBRARY
RETOR, LEN IX TILDEN FOUNDATIONE.
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about a year he came to De Kalb and in 18:1 sent for his family. Soon after his arrival in this city he went to work in the barb wire shops in the employ of Colonel Ellwood and there re- mained up to the time of his death, which oc- curred in 1888, when he was fifty-five years of age. Ilis wite, who was born in Sweden, about 1838, is still living and resides with her son Alben.
Sanford Swanbum was one of a family of eleven children, eight of whom are living: Charles; Amanda, the wife of Albert Johnson; Albert; Robert: Lenus; Mathilda, the wife of Thomas Condren ; Alben and Sanford. With the exception of Mrs. Condren, who is in Chicago, all are residents of De Kalb.
To the public schools of his native country San- ford Swanbum is largely indebted for the educa- tional advantages he enjoyed. Hle was a youth of ten when he came to the new world and as carly as his twelfth year he worked on farms during the summer months. At the age of fif- teen he became an employe in the Ellwood wire shops and since that time his life has been asso- ciated with the manufacture of barbed wire. He was at first given charge of the repairing of the spools and on the advent of automatic machinery he was sent to St. Paul to operate one of the barbed wire machines, which was on exhibit there for six weeks. a fact which indicates that he must have been regarded as the best workman in this line, else he would not have been chosen for the purpose. On his return he was made an adjuster of the machines and later, when the machines were increased to the number of two hundred, Mr. Swanhum was placed in charge of all the ad- justers or in other words, of the machinery of the plant. He has brought forth many useful devices as the result of his inventive genius, his study and experimenting. In 1892 or 1893 he was the inventor of the four point barb wire machines, which patent was signed over to I. L. Ellwood. and in 1894 he designed and built a new field fence machine. His improvements in barb and woven wire machinery have been numerous and practically all the modern wire machinery used in the extensive shops at this place have been the product of his brain and his mechanical genius. In 1906 he made improvements in the machines for the manfacture of the Baker barh wire. which
revolutionized the manufacture of this wire. His work in inventive lines for barb wire machinery and machinery appertaining thereto has placed him among the foremost mechanics of the west- ern country and his work has brought him prom- inence in business circles where such machinery is used. He is also president of the De Kalb Fuck & Mercantile Company.
Of genial, social nature, Mr. Swanbum delight- in the associations of the Modern Woodmen, hold- ing membership in the camp at De Kalb. Iu politics he is an earnest republican. He was mar- ried in 1884 to Miss Ida Munson, a native of De Kalb, and they have two children: Elvin L. and Beatrice. They have a pleasant home and find automobiling a delightful recreation, Mr. Swanbum running a motor car of his own manu- facture.
JOHN GRAHAM COOK.
John Graham Cook. engaged in the transfer and livery business in De Kalb, receiving a patronage which makes him a successful business man, was born in Painesville, Ohio, July 30, 1813. Thoresby, in his Ilistory of Leeck, says: "At Beeston, York- shire, England, flourished an ancient family of the Gales, yet the several branches, in different towns, are writ Gale, alias Cook-I suppose from the office of their ancestors." In support of this theory it is said that it was no uncommon thing for the name of a family to be changed into that of the office they bore; thus, the name of Walter, or Fitzwalter, was changed into Butler, on account of one Walker having been butler to King John, and the name of Milligan was changed into Synge, because one member was a priest with a good voice. In history we read of Norman the Cook and Robert the Cook. They were witnesses to a grant of land by de Percy to the church of St. Peter and Hylda, at Whitby. Robert the Cook and his son had the hereditary office of masters of the Cook of the Whitby monastery. This was about the middle of the twelfth century. John the Cook. le Cok. represented Herefordshire in parliament in the reign of Edward III., abont 1350. The
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family is of great antiquity and importance in Ireland; no less than twelve Cooks were mayors and bailiffs from the year 1664 to 1154. Sir Anthony Cook was the grandfather of Lord Bacon, and so distinguished for learning that he was called the "English scholar." On account of his erudition and many virtues, he was invited to preside over the education of the young King Edward VI. as his tutor. In Queen Mary's reign Sir Anthony Cook lived in exile on account of his Protestantism, but returned in Elizabeth's time. His daughters were all noted for their classical acquirements, and it was Anne who was the mother of Lord Bacon; her husband was Sir Nicholas Bacon. Lady Nicholas Bacon's sister Mildred was Lady Burleigh, and another sister was the Lady Russell, daughter-in-law of the Earl of Bedford. Pope honored Thomas Cooke, the anthor, with a place in the Dunciad, because his ire had been aroused by the farce, "Penelope," which ridiculed the poet's "'Odyssey." Descend- ants of Francis Cooke may claim membership in the Mayflower Society, for he and his wife Hester came over in the Mayflower. Their son John was born in 1612, in Holland, where Francis Cooke is supposed to have gone from England with the other pilgrims. He was one of those who signed the memorable compact in the cabin of the May- flower on Saturday, November 21, 1620. In Feb- ruary. 1621. while Cooke and Captain Myles Standish were at work in the woods, they were recalled by an alarm at the approach of Indians. who did no damage, however. except to carry off the tools left in the woods. These tools, strange to relate, were returned by the Indians a few weeks later. Francis Cooke, the great-great-great- great-great-great-grandfather of our subject. died at Plymouth. April 7, 1663. Tracing the ancestry of the family back through successive generations in America, we note that he came to this country in the Mayflower in 1620, and died April ?, 1663. Francis Cook married Esther Cook. of the Nether- lands, Holland. Their son. Henry Cook, was mar- ried June 1 :. 1639, to Judith Burdsall, in Salem, Massachusetts. and died in 1661.
Samuel Cook, son of Henry and Judith (Burd- sall) Cook. was born in 1641 and was married on the 2d of May, 1666. to Hope Parker. who died
in Wallingford, Connecticut, about 1681. He afterward married Mary Roberts and his death occurred in Wallingford, in March. 1102.
Ephraim Cook, son of Samuel Cook, was born April 19, 1699, married Lydia Doolittle in 1722 and died March 22, 1:14, while his wife passed away on Christmas day of 1785. Elam Cook, son of Ephraim and Lydia Cook, was born November 10, 1735, and died February 3. 1808. His wife. Abigail Hall, was born March 30. 1740, and died in Ohio. September 26, 1816. Merimon Cook. their son and the next in the line of descent. was born November 12. 1761, and died August 25. 1858. while his wife. Sally Bradley. died April 11, 1812.
John Cook, son of Merimon Cook, was born December 27, 1182, was married in 1804 to Meroa Smith and died March 21, 1848. Josiah Smith Cook, who was the grandfather of our subject, was born May 10, 1810. and married Lucy A. Chat- field, who was born June 9, 1809, and died De- cember 31. 1850. Their son. Corwin Merimon Cook. father of our subject, was born July 16. 1848.
It was John and Meroa (Smith) Cook who left the east and made their way westward. establish- ing their home in Ohio and founding the family in that state. Josiah Smith Cook, the grand- father of our subject. was born in Burton, Ohio, May 10, 1810, learned the tanner's trade there and in that place was married September 18. 1831. to Luey 1. Chatfield, whose birth occurred in Mid- dlefield, Geauga county, Ohio, June 4, 1809. His death occurred February 20. 1876, and his wife passed away December 31, 1850. They were the parents of four children: John Marcellus, who was born July 8, 1836. and died on the 20th of January, 1863: Harriet Lola, who was born August 5. 1838. and died December 31, 1862: Corwin M., who was born July 16, 1848; and one who died in infancy. The Cook family has a creditable military record, Merimon Cook, the great-great-grandfather of our subject, was a sol- dier of the Revolutionary war. John Cook. the great-grandfather, was in the war of 1812, while a brother of our subject. Marcellus S. Cook, was in the regular army as a member of Troop D. Elev- enth Cavalry. and died in the service.
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