USA > Illinois > DeKalb County > Past and present of DeKalb County, Illinois, Volume II > Part 24
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It was during the residence of the family in Kingston township that the birth of our subject occurred, his natal day being November 19, 1853. ITe was therefore a little lad of five years at the time of the removal of the family to Mayfield township. Ile acquired his education in the com- mon schools and assisted his father in the work . f. the home farm during the period of his boyhood and youth. Upon attaining his majority he went to Chicago, where for nine years he was in the employ of the McCormick Manufacturing Com- pany, during which time he worked his way up from a humble position until he became an expert machinist. Returning to the farm, he again re- sumed agricultural pursuits, which have continued to be his occupation to the present time. His place comprises eighty acres of well improved land on which are seen modern and substantial build- ings, while everything about his place presents a neat and attractive appearance. He follows prac- tical methods of farming and for his reward an- nually harvests rich crops.
Mr. Enlkerson was married September 3, 1876. to Miss Ella Richards. a daughter of Nathaniel and Ruth (Baxter) Richards, carly pioneers of Sycamore, where they still make their home and where the father conducts a blacksmith shop. Unto our subject and his wife have been born four chil- dren : Fred E., who resides in Beloit, Wisconsin ; .Jessie Bay, still under the parental roof; Claude Richard, now deceased ; and Fay G., who is a high- school student at Belvidere, Illinois.
In his political views Mr. Fulkerson is a stal- wart republican, having supported the men and measures of that party since age conferred upon him the right of franchise. For three years he served as school director, but aside from that of- fice has not been active in public affairs. His fra- ternal relations are with the Knights of the Globe. at Kingston. Mrs. Fulkerson is a member of the Congregational church in Mayfield township. while Mr. Fulkerson also attends its services. Having
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spent almost his entire life in Mayfield township. Mr. Fulkerson has a wide and favorable acquaint- ance and occupies a prominent place among the leading agriculturists of his community.
JOHN II. LEWIS.
The thriving city of De Kalb owes much of its prosperity, doubtless, to its favorable location. It is far enough from Chicago to do something in the way of an independent carcer. yet near enough to feel the impulse of the energetic life that char- acterizes a great metropolis. The ordinary neces- sities of a rich agricultural district demand com- mercial facilities that explain the existence of a center of considerable population. But nothing be- comes more apparent when comparisons are insti- tuted between towns similarly conditioned than their dependence for the larger part of whatever of conspicuous success they attain upon the char- acter of their business men. De Kalb is an inter- esting illustration of this obvious truth. The presence in this community of a number of vigor- ous and enterprising men, engaged in the manage- ment of its business affairs, is the key to a set of conditions not ordinarily existing in a town of its size. A prominent representative of this group of citizens is the subject of this sketch.
John IT. Lewis was born in Cortland, New York, on the 23d of November. 1850. His great-grand- parents were of Welsh nativity and were the founders of this branch of the Lewis family in America. His paternal grandfather was a Rhode Islander by birth and when fourteen years of age made his way alone to Spafford. New York, where in his early manhood he turned his attention to farming. Here he subsequently purchased from the government a tract of land and developed it into a farm. For many years this constituted the family homestead. Here James K. Lewis was born in 1822. To the Welsh blood of his pioneer ancestors there had been added a strain of that strenuous nationality known as Scotch-Irish-in which there is no drop of Irish-and which is so proudly claimed by a large number of very capable people in our American public life. He grew up in Spafford, availed himself of the ordinary facil- ities for an education and further cultivated him-
self by the profitable experience of school teach- ing. Ambitious for a more notable career he graduated from the Geneva Medical College and several years later he added a post-graduate course in Rush Medical College. Chicago. He practiced for some time in Onondaga county, New York. and in 1852 he removed to Illinois and settled in the town of St. Charles, in Kane county.
Dr. Lewis soon won recognition as a successful physician. He had the arduous experiences of a country practitioner and thus became inured to the hardships incident to such a life. He did not con- fine himself wholly to the duties of his profession, however, and soon became known as one of the prominent business men of his locality. He was one of the organizers of the Kerwin & Lewis Bank and was also one of the founders of a pioneer drug store in St. Charles, which is still in operation.
Dr. Lewis married Louise M. Ferguson, who was born at Truxton, New York. She was the daugh- ter of John H. Ferguson, a prominent member of the bar at that place. Her brother, John II. Fer- guson, Jr., was one of the leading attorneys at St. Charles, where he resided for many years. He also maintained an office in Chicago where he was a partner of General Farnsworth, so widely known as an officer in the war of the Rebellion and as a member of congress from the Kane county dis- triet. The Fergusons were of Scotch ancestry and members of the clan MeFergus. as the name sug- gests.
Dr. and Mrs. Lewis had two children, John H. and his sister. Genivie. Mrs. Lewis was in delicate health for some years before the close of her lite and was most devotedly and lovingly attended by her faithful daughter. She died February 14. 1903. The old home was given up some months later and Dr. Lewis and his daughter removed to De Kalb and made their home with the son and brother. Here he died on February 14, 1907. on the fourth anniversary of the death of his wife.
John H. Lewis was two years of age when his father removed to Illinois. He spent his child- hood and youth in St. Charles in the home of his parents. He acquired his education in the west side public schools and when eighteen years old went to Sycamore and began his business career as an employe in the drug tore of Harkness & Stevens. After a year in the service of this firm he went to Chicago where he was employd by a
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ASTOR LENOX .O.DEI FOUNDATIONS.
Mary E. Louis
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I.D. FCIMIDATIUNE,
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wholesale firm on Randolph street. A year later he returned to De Kalb county and formed a business connection with J. E. Elwood & Brother, drug- gists, having charge of their books and drug de- partment. He remained in that position until May, 1877. He spent the succeeding summer is Minnesota. but in the following September he returned to De Kalb and on the 15th of that month he purchased a half interest in the drug business of Hiram Ellwood. In the following February he bought Mr. Ellwood's interest and assumed en- tire control of the business. Ile continued in the drug business for several years, but finally sold his stock and good will to J. C. Garner & Son, who continue the business at the corner of Main and Second streets.
Mr. Lewis then went to Texas and engaged in the cattle business for a time, although he retained his principal De Kalb holdings and thus con- tinued to be identified with the town. On the 10th of April, 1892, he purchased a controlling inter- est in the First National Bank of De Kalb. of which he had been a director for several years. He was elected president and continued in that position until October, 1903, when, on account of ill health, he retired from the management and sold the larger part of his stock, although remain- ing a member of the board of directors.
The unequivocal success of Mr. Lewis as bank president is too generally known in De Kalb county to require the services of a chronicler. Quite early in his experience in that capacity he encountered the trying days of 1893, when one business after another fell apart like a house of cards. He is not likely to forget those days of storm and stress and the native cantion of his disposition was intensified by the perils which all commercial enterprises were obliged to face. The First National Bank has had a phenomenal history and its success is due in large measure to the patient and absorbing atten- tion which it received from its laborious and tire- less president. By no means the smallest of its assets was the system of banking ethic which Mr. Lewis insisted upon as necessary to the management of an institution which is the custodian of so large a part of the funds of the business public.
De Kalb is widely known for its smoke stack ?. It is a well established tradition in this community that healthy factories are the life of the towns. "Let no desirable manufacturing establishment
escape" might be inscribed upon the gates of the city as its most appropriate motto. In the busi- ness of promoting such enterprises Mr. Lewis has been especially active. In that connection he was largely instrumental in securing the location here of the shoe factory, the Abram Ellwood Manufac- turing Company, the Melville Clark Piano Com- pany and other plants that have contributed to the prosperity of the city.
Mr. Lewis is a member of the Commercial Club and of the Masonic fraternity, being connected with the lodge, the chapter and the commandery, and with Medina Temple of the Mystic Shrine in Chicago. He is also affiliated with De Kalb lodge, No. 765, B. P. O. E. Politically he is a republican. He has been a faithful servant of the municipality, having served twelve years as a member of the board of aldermen and an equal period as a mem- ber of the school board. He has also been treas- nrer of the Northern Illinois State Normal School since the organization of the institution. He has often been solicited to accept public offices of larger honors, but has as persistently declined them.
On the 1st of October, 1884, Mr. Lewis was united in marriage to Miss Mary Ellwood, the second daughter of Colonel I. L. Ellwood. Two children were born to them, James E. and Harriet Lonise. The former is a graduate of the De Kalb high school and in the fall of 1907 will finish his preparation for Yale ITniversity. Mrs. Lewis passed away after a brief illness on the 20th day of December, 1903.
Mr. Lewis is extremely domestic in his habits. Ile is rarely missing from his home except when obeying the peremptory calls of business. It is there that he looks for the satisfaction of those higher needs of life that make for permanent hap- piness. His devotion to his family is a most in- teresting manifestation of his character. He was a loving and faithful husband, and is a most fond and companionable parent. In his ministry to his aged father he has manifested that filial piety which the old Roman chroniclers so loved to com- memorate and in the affection which joins him to his devoted sister there is a perpetuation of the ties of childhood which is as touching as it is deserving.
As a business man he is fearless in protecting the interests entrusted to his care. ITe is positive in his convictions and will not deviate from what he con-
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ceives to be a wise administration of affairs, even at the risk of offending those whose friendship he covets. The people have confidence in his honesty and capacity, for the enterprises with which he has been connected have been uniformly successful and have been conducted in such a way as to win the approval of those who believe in "the square deal."
Mr. Lewis is quite disposed to shun the more pretentious display of social life, but he has a warm greeting for the friends who love to seek the very agreeable hospitality of his beautiful home. He is an intelligent and discriminating observer of current affairs and does not get his opinions at second hand. He has made a well defined place for himself in the history of De Kalb county and its annals would be incomplete without its recog- nition.
MARY ELLWOOD LEWIS.
Mary Ellwood Lewis was born in De Kalb' on the 18th of March, 1863. With the exception of the years of absence devoted to education and travel her life was spent in this community. Here she was married to John II. Lewis on the 1st of October, 1884, and a new home was begun with all of the countless ministries of love. It was here that her son and daughter were born and it was from her beautiful home that a mourning multi- tude followed her stricken family as she was borne to the quiet city of the dead. This was her home and she had no disposition to go elsewhere except for those restful interruptions of routine that break the steady tension of care and yield now strength for the countless duties that so absorbingly oc- cupy body and brain and heart. It is impossible to tell except in a most imperfect way the story of a personality so lovingly and reverently treas- ured in the hearts of all who knew her.
Mary Ellwood was the second daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Isaac L. Ellwood. Her early education was obtained in the public schools. In 1878 she entered the Rockford Seminary and graduated four years later. The following year was spent at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts. In 1883 she went abroad for a year to travel and was married soon after her return. On a subsequent visit to Europe, with a group of highly congenial
lady friends, she managed a delightful coaching trip from London to Glasgow. For several years the family home was on North First street, near the well known Ellwood mansion, but in 1900 Mr. Lewis built the new residence on the corner of Col- lege and Park avenues which was first occupied about the time of the Christmas festivals of that year. For the three succeeding years the home that had been so carefully planned was the scene of her inspiring life. Only those from the outside workl who were privileged to be frequent guests at its hospitable fireside can understand the fine comradeship of which this wife and mother was capable.
The first impression which Mrs. Lewis made upon one who was yet in the process of becoming acquainted with her was that of perfect simplicity and frankness. She had spent her life in a com- munity remarkable for its sense of social equality. She was true to all of the traditions of the town in that particular. Her nature was too healthful and strong and sane to suffer from the infirmities of weak minds. She needed none of the artificial distinctions with which so many clothe themselves for the protection of their precious dignities. There was always a native modesty, also, which heightened the charm of her unpretentiousness. Yet with it all there was a quiet dignity which indicated the poise and sense of resource that come from the training of the schools and from seeing one's familiar surroundings projected against the background of other lands and old civilizations. One saw at once that he was in the presence of a woman of intelligence who appreci- ated the elements of power that had come into her life and who valued them for the real enrichment which they yielded. What was at first an impres- sion regarding her in these particulars was con- firmed as intimacy increased.
Mrs. Lewis inherited a buoyancy and joyous- ness that were distinctive traits of her character. She loved the sunny side of the road. She had the physical exuberance that comes from good health and it overflowed into her mental life. She found a large place for the delicious mirthfulness that sweetens experience with the music of laughter. It has been remarked that the ability to appreciate humor is a certificate of the sanity of one's mind. But it indicates more: it expresses a largeness and sense of strength and of adequacy. So many
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people are overwhehned by the solemnity of life and by its inevitable tragedies. They cannot hold their own against these dreadful realities. How tonie are those bountiful natures that knowing all possibilities can yet meet the faets of the world with a smiling face. discovering under all of its stern fatalism a gracious benignity that does not forget our low estate. And this was her attitude toward life if one could trust his own impressions of what seemed very clear. It was the healthful mirth of one who sees the joy of living and who holds to that optimistic philosophy which makes the best of everything. She brushed aside most of the annoying perplexities that are often a grievous burden to those less happily endowed. She did not borrow trouble and whatever came she reduced to its lowest terms. While this attitude was easy for her because of her abounding strength and courage it seemed also to be in harmony with her theory of the way in which one should meet the vicissitudes of experience.
Another manifestations of her character was seen in her fearlessness and sense of mastery. She was an excellent horse-woman and only smiled where others would express alarm. In a similar spirit she found matters of business attractive and kept herself informed as to what was doing in the markets of the world, yet it was so unobtrusively done that only those who shared her daily life could know of it. She was an admirable leader in those practical affairs that all social organizations finally rest upon and by natural selection she very often found herself where the burdens are heaviest. She was a very stanch worker and made little of what she did, however. When complimented upon the service that she rendered she turned the praise aside with modest diffidence or with a pleasing jest. She was herself so large-minded that they seemed but trifles. It is pleasing to dwell upon these traits of character with which everyone was famil- iar who knew her at all well, yet her view respect- ing them was absolutely correct. The crying pity is that so few can see them as she did.
The quality that was most attractive, however, and that gave her a place in the community which probably was not occupied by any other woman was her kindness. Pestalozzi. the great Swiss re- former, built his philanthropic system for the re- demption of his country upon the idea that the poet has so tersely expressed in the simple couplet :
"Ah, yet when all is thought and said The heart still overrules the head."
It is natural for all to admire superior intel- lectual endowments. They are indispensable to the best welfare of society, for the thinker and the man who knows are the ones to whom we turn for the theoretical solution of our problems; it is kindness, the supreme quality of the heart, that wins the grateful allegiance of the world, how- ever, and it will always be so. This disposition of Mrs. Lewis was so generally understood that she was relied upon to meet a large number of the needs of the unfortunate. What she did was char- acteristically done. It was so quietly and unosten- tatiously attended to that few knew of it and they were not always the ones most vitally involved in it. Especially was she sympathetic toward the young who aspired to make something of them- selves through education. There were always poor but ambitious boys at college and fine, hard-work- ing girls at the Normal School who owed their op- portunity to her. She disclaimed any credit for it, declaring that since the sacrifice was not great the praise should be correspondingly small. Thus good sense and wholesomeness were among her most charming qualities. One finds himself constantly recurring to some manifestation of them as he dwells upon her memory. Nothing of self-con- seiousness or of over valuation seemed to find a place in her well balanced living. She went toward life in all of its aspects with the unspoken but per- haps half-conscious maxim: "Do the right thing and make no fuss about it."
There was a elear and well defined place in her philosophy of life for the religions idea. She was an active member of the Congregational church and carried a large part of its manifold burdens. In contemplating her character it is easy to see that religion expressed a fundamental need of her character. From its finalities she derived those profound conceptions that gave the ultimate grounds upon which she rested her life. But there was nothing of the narrow sectarian about her. While her thought was large and liberal, it was far from being neutral and colorless. It gave a depth and richness to her character that can be suggested rather than described. Those who knew her best from this point of view speak with hushed
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voices of what was sometimes shyly or inadver- iently revealed to them. She expressed her creed in terms of life rather than in words. She pre- ferred to talk but little of what was very sacred to her. She was not fluent in religious phrases and never pressed her views upon others. It is easy to assume to know the things that lie below the free expression of those with whom our lives are cast and often, perhaps. we may judge correctly. There was little room to doubt respecting her profound convictions when in her gentle way she revealed the presence of some pervading truth that gave a fine coloring to all of her courageous, but unob- trusive life.
From what has been said it will be inferred that Mrs. Lewis was most of all a home-maker and that it was there that her spirit had its fullest expres- sion. A glad and bountiful life filled all the ample spaces where she dwelt. Those who were familiar there had no trouble in understanding why the evenings found the family circle complete. To him who was encumbered with the strenuous duties of an honorable and most responsible calling it was a haven of rest. from which it was quite impossi- ble to entice him except upon some call of real urgency. Few men spend so little of their leisure outside their own door. The young life of the home found it similarly congenial and attractive. It was a fine, simple, joyous comradery that one found there-such a one as warms one's heart when he finds it and makes him want to express his gratitude in some quiet way that speech would profane.
The final illness of Mrs. Lewis was very brief. The suddenness of her taking away was like a stroke of lightning from a clear sky. She knew the possibilities very soon, but was the same brave hearted woman through it all. It was the first break for more than thirty years in the family circle from which she came. Rarely has a family sorrow been so completely a community sorrow. More than three years have passed since that mouruful Sabbath of December 20, 1903. when the word sped about the community that she could not recover. But the hurrying months have not dimmed the sweetness of her gracious life. It was of such that the poet sang when he penned those words of hope that have cheered so many afflicted ones when their own were taken away :
"There is no death! What seems so is transition ; This life of mortal breath
Is bnt a suburb of the life elysian, Whose portal we call death."
WILLIAM DUFFY.
William Duffy, who follows farming in Clinton township. was born on the 2d of May, 1854, in the state of New York, his parents being Martin and Bridget Duffy. who are mentioned elsewhere in this work. No event of special importance oc- curred to vary the routine of farm life for William Duffy in his boyhood days. He was early trained to habits of industry and economy. and these traits have borne rich fruit in his later life. Having ar- rived at years of maturity he sought a companion and helpmate for life's journey in his marriage to Miss Sarah Boyland, who has indeed been a faith- ful companion to him. She was born in Clinton township. May 31, 1854, her parents being natives of Ireland who came to the United States in 1848 and who were farming people of De Kalb county, but who are both now deceased. In their family were nine children, of whom Mrs. Duffy was the second. On the 4th of February, 1879, she gave her hand in marriage to William Duffy, and their union has been blessed with seven children : Katie, who was born March 9, 1881, and died at the age of seven years; Mary A .. who was born June ?, 1882, and is the wife of Frank McCormick, a farmer of Shabbona township: Martin, who was born February 22. 1884, and died at the age of four years ; Sadie A., who was born September 12, 1886, and is the wife of Edward McCormick, a resident farmer of Shabbona township; William A., who was born July 5. 1887: Nellie A., who was born November 4, 1888, and is still at home; and Anna I .. who was born October 24, 1891, and is now attending the Normal School at De Kalb, Illinois.
Following his marriage Mr. Duffy rented land in De Kalb county for several years. He then bought a farm of one hundred and sixty acres and later added ninety-five acres, so that he then had two hundred and fifty-five aeres, constituting a valuable traet. He has since sold one hundred and thirty aeres. His entire life has been given to the
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