USA > Illinois > DeKalb County > Portrait and biographical album of DeKalb County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 22
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1800, and died in 1851, in Camden, Hillsdale Co., Mich. Her mother, Climena, nee Pease, was also born in New York State, July 4, 1813, and died Dec. 13, 1879, in California Township, Branch Có., Mich. Her maternal grandfather was a Revolutionary sol- dier.
ramont N. Hollembeak, retired farmer, re- siding at Genoa, was born Feb. 5, 1816, in Genesee Co., N. Y. Ruluff Hollembeak, his father, was a native of New York, and married Electa Ames, who was born in Ver- mont. After their marriage they became resi- dents of Genesee County, afterwards removing to Pennsylvania, where the father died. The mother came to De Kalb County, and after a residence of nearly 30 years returned to Pennsylvania, where she died. Their children were named Electa, Betsey, Aramont N., Alfred A., Abram, William and Amy.
Mr. Hollembeak is the oldest son of the children born to his parents, and accompanied them while yet in extreme youth to Crawford Co., Pa. He was 13 when his father died, and he continued to reside with his mother three years after that event, aiding her in the support of the family. In 1832 he began an apprenticeship to learn the business of a wagon- maker, remaining until the year preceding his ma- jority, after which he pursued his trade as a vocation at different points until the date of his removal to De Kalb County, and afterwards for a season. Among other places where he carried on his business may be named Conneaut, Ohio, where he operated three years.
In 1839 he became a citizen of De Kalb County and entered a claim of 160 acres of land in the township of Genoa, of which he afterwards obtained the patent from the Government. On this he lo- cated and was an occupant until Nov., 1877, when he built his present residence, and of which he took pos- session on its completion. His fine and valuable farm is managed by a tenant. ,
Politically, Mr. Hollembeak is an out-and-out Re- publican, and he has been an important factor in the general interests of his township. He has been Su- pervisor two terms, has served several ternis as Assessor, School Trustee and Road Commissioner,
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and has discharged the duties of a Police Magistrate six years. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity. Jan. 12, 1838, he was married, in Crawford Co., Pa., to Pamelia, daughter of Frederick and Amy Decker. Her parents were residents of Genesee Co., N. Y., where her father died. The mother went to Pennsylvania and later to Michigan, to live with her children, and died at Cassopolis in that State. Their daughters were Betsey, Catherine, Hannah, Amy, Jane and Pamelia, and sons, Barney, Grant and Stacey. Mrs. Hollembeak was born May 7, 1817, in Genesee Co., N. Y. The children born to her and her husband are Adelia A., Alfred, Henry, Emily, Ruluff and Ralph.
A fine lithographic portrait of Mr. H. accompanies this sketch.
ohn E. Atwood, merchant at De Kalb, and senior member of the firm of Atwood & Burnside, was born Aug. 26, 1828, in the town of Washington, Berkshire Co., Mass. He remained in the Bay State until 11 years old and spent the succeeding four years in Jeffer- son and Lewis Counties, N. Y. In 1844 he came to Illinois and settled in Rockford, finding employment as a farm laborer. When he reached the age of 22 years he entered a dry-goods store in that city, where he acted in the capacity of salesman. He ceased his connection with his employers at the end of four years, during which he had spent about one year in his native State.
He came thence to De Kalb County and engaged in business in the township of Malta, operating there three years and coming to De Kalb in 1862. He formed his present business relation with A. W. Burnside in 1877, previous to which date he was connected with his brother. The annual aggregate of the business transactions of the firm are estimated at $40,000, and they rank among the leading com- mercial houses of this section of Illinois. Mr. At- wood adopts the principles of the prohibition element in politics. He is also a member of the Masonic fraternity.
He was first married in Belvidere, Ill., to Angelita . Harrington, a native of Buffalo, N. Y. They had
two children: Clara A. resides at Colorado Springs, and J. Harie is in the employment of John V. Far- . well & Co., of Chicago. Their mother died in Malta and Mr. Atwood was again married in that place March 11, 1861, to Annie E. Fuller. One child- Walter B .- has been born to them. Mrs. Atwood is a native of Pennsylvania.
efferson O. Stark, of the firm of Stark Bros., dealers in stock and pressed hay, at Syca- more, was born April 4, 1847, in the town- ship of the same name, in this county. His father, Marshal Stark, was born Aug. 12, 1813, in Luzerne Co., Pa., and became a resident of De Kalb County Sept. 14, 1835. Louisa (Tyler) Stark was born in Susquehanna Co., Pa. The senior Stark located a large tract of land on section 31, Sycamore Township, which was deeded to him on its coming into market, and is still in the family. At one time he was the proprietor of a place of public entertainment at Sycamore, known as the Stark House, a part of which is still standing contiguous to the Ward House. He was Sheriff of De Kalb County one term and officiated in other positions of trust and importance. His death occurred Dec. 26, 1882, and his widow is still a resident of the home- stead. Their ten children are all living. Harmon M. resides on 360 acres in Kingston Township in this county, which is a portion of the unsettled es- tate. Martha is the wife of Hosea Atwood, a farmer in Jasper Co., Iowa. Mary married Curtis Harris, of the township of Genoa. Jefferson O. is the fourth in order of birth, and is in company with Henry, his junior brother. Theron resides in Sycamore and is administrator of his father's estate. Ada married James Maitland, and resides on the homestead. Ella -is the wife of A. W. Brower, a hardware merchant of Sycamore. Emma married Charles Wiggins, a farmer in Storey Co., Iowa. Hattie is the wife of Burt Lee, a resident of Sycamore.
Mr. Stark was reared to the legal age of manhood on the paternal estate, and on reaching a period of independence he engaged in buying and shipping stock. Three years after he established his business he admitted his brother to an interest, and they have since been heavily engaged in transactions in the
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avenues named. They buy and ship stock to Chicago and press hay for market, having the requisite facili- ties at Sycamore and also at Kirkland.
Mr. Stark is the owner of his residence and a second dwelling, which is rented. He was married Nov. 13, 1875, to Lydia Carver, a native of Luzerne Co., Pa., and is the daughter of Jabez and Ellen (Jackson) Carver. She was born in Lemon Town- ship, Luzerne Co., Pa., Aug. 1, 1850.
ayne Holdridge, farmer on the northwest quarter of section 28, Cortland Township, was born in Smithville, Chenango Co., N. Y., Nov. 22, 1825, and is a son of Ira and Anna (Howell) Holdridge. His father was born in 1786, in Pownell, Vt., and died Jan. 13, 1869; and his mother was born on Long Island, N. Y., Sept. 26, 1792, and died Dec. 28, r869, in Chenango Co., N. Y. They had a family of ten children.
Mr. Holdridge, the eighth in the above family, was brought up on a farm and received a practical school education. At the age of 28 he came to this county, arriving in June, r853, and locating on his present farm of 67 acres, lying just north of the rail- road. For rr years he lived in the village of Cort- land, where he owned a house and lot and followed painting, and bought his farm in 1864, since which time he has occupied it. In 1864 it had only an old house, but he has placed upon it a good residence, barn, outbuildings, etc. In politics Mr. Holdridge is a Republican.
He was married Sept. 27, 1857, to Miss Clara L., daughter and youngest child of Job and Anna (Sprague) Densmore, of Puritan English stock. She was born Oct. 24, 1834, in McDonough, Chenango Co., N. Y. Her father, a Methodist minister, was born March 25, 1790, in Reading, Vt., and died Sept. 9, 1845 ; and her mother was born May 24, 1791, in Vermont, and died March 23, 1880. Her grand- father Densmore was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. Mrs. Holdridge has a Continental eight- dollar bill which he received in pay. Her grand- father Sprague was a Captain of a stationary com- pany at Castleton, in the Revolutionary War. Her oldest brother, H. B. Densmore, came to Kane Co.,
Ill., in 1837, and located at Sugar Grove, where he still resides.
Mrs. H. came to this county with her mother in 1845, they leaving New York State the day after Mr. Densmore was buried. There were 21 in the party, and they came West by team. Among them were Mrs. D., two children, and a sister named Cornelia\ Breed, who has married and is now living in New Bedford, Bureau Co., Ill. A brother, Joseph, is now living in Shell Rock, Butler Co., Iowa.
Mr. and Mrs. Holdridge have had one child, Ethelbert by name, who was born July 25, 1861, in Cortland Township, and is now living in Cortland village.
Mr. H. is a Republican in his political views.
illiam Wallace Bryant, M. D., practicing physician and surgeon at Sycamore, was born Oct. 3r, 1832, at Chesterfield, Hamp- shire Co., Mass. His father, Martin M. Bryant, was born in the same place, and married Nancy A. Skiff, a native of Williams- burg, Mass. He was a physician of the "new school," and in 1838 settled at North Adams, where he pursued his profession until his death in r844.
Dr. Bryant was a child of six years when his par- ents went to the town of Adams, and was 12 yearsold when his father died. He remained with his mother and attended Drury Academy in Adams, and subse- quently became a student at Marlow, Cheshire Co., N. H. He began to read medicine under the in- structions of Dr. W. W. Gardner, at Pittsfield, Mass., and supplemented the knowledge there obtained by attending lectures at the Medical College at Worces- ter in his native State, where he was graduated in June, 1856.
In October of the same year, Dr. Bryant came to Sycamore, then in its days of incipiency, and has since been engaged as a practitioner at this point. He has built a substantial and popular business, and has discharged the duties of his profession with little intermission.
Dr. Bryant was married in September, r856, to Cordelia Sheldon. She was born in Monroe, Frank- lin Co., Mass., and is the daughter of Hiram G. and Lydia (Ballou) Sheldon. Their children are Charles
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H., Austin B., William M. and Nellie. The oldest son was born in Sycamore, April 24, 1857, and was primarily educated in the schools of his native city. He studied medicine under his father's instructions, and at the age of 18 years commenced to attend lectures at the Chicago Medical College, where he was graduated in March, 1879, after a thorough preparatory course covering a period of four terms. He was married in March, 1877, to Lottie V. Har- rington, who was born in Iowa. They have one child.
Dr. W. W. Bryant has been a Universalist in religious principles for a quarter of a century. He is a Democrat of the Douglas school.
enry Patterson, carpenter and joiner at Genoa, was born Dec. 20, 1829, in Mead- ville, Pa., and is the son of Joseph and Eleanor (Compton) Patterson. He came from his native State to McHenry Co., Ill., in 1845, when he was 16 years of age, and was a mem- ber of his father's family four years after their loca- tion in Illinois. .
In 1850 he went to Chicago for the purpose of ac- quiring a knowledge of the business of a carpenter and joiner, in which he was occupied three years. He came to Genoa in 1854 and established himself in the business in which he has since operated.
He was the owner of 45 acres of land in the cor- poration of Genoa, ten acres of which was laid out in lots, now known as Patterson's Addition to Genoa.
Mr. Patterson is a Republican in political faith, and has officiated as School Director and Village Trustee.
He was married Feb. 16, 1854, in Genoa Town- ship, to Adelia Crocker, and they are the parents of six children,-Charles F., Edward J. A., Hermon H., Mary E. and Clayton A. One child died in infancy, and Edward died Feb. 2, 1862, in Genoa, when four and a half years of age.
Mrs. Patterson is the daughter of Elder Allen and Sophronia (Tackles) Crocker. Her father was a na- tive of Massachusetts and a soldier in the war of 1812. Commenced preaching when 22 years of age, and continued in the ministry 56 years, preaching in the States of New York, Ohio and Illinois. He died
in Genoa, Feb. 7, 187 1. Her mother was a native of New York. She received her education at Wyoming Academy in the same State, and died in Genoa, Nov. 30, 1874. They came from New York in 1846, and located in Genoa Township. Their children were born in the following order: Alvaro, Mary A., Philenia, Elvira, Adelia and Angeline. Mrs. Patter- son was born Jan. 16, 1836, in South Leroy, Genesee Co., N. Y.
R obert H. Roberts, merchant at De Kalb, senior member of the firm of Roberts & Tyler, was born July 28, 1836, in Oneida Co., N. Y. His father died when he was 12 years of age, and during the year following he was wholly orphaned by the death of his mother. Thrown entirely upon his own efforts for maintenance, he availed himself of the first oppor- tunity that presented for honorable, remunerative la- bor, and engaged in farm work by the month, also operating as a salesman in a store, being occupied in these two callings for a period of seven years.
In 1855 he came to De Kalb County, where he rented a farm for a time, which he worked on shares. He proceeded next to Kansas, but the State being in a disturbed condition from the strife engendered by the slave element, he remained there but a year. However, he entered a claim of 160 acres of land, espoused the Free-Soil cause and enlisted under the banner and principles of " Jim Lane," serving as need required. He afterwards sold his claim. Re- turning to De Kalb County, he obtained a situation as a clerk at Sycamore, where he was occupied three years. In 1861 he started a grocery business at De Kalb, associated with his brother Richard. After a connection of four years the latter sold his interest to S. A. Tyler, the firm assuming its present style. They are engaged in the provision trade, and also do an extensive business in live stock.
Mr. Roberts is a stanch Republican and enjoys the confidence of his townsmen. He held the posi- tion of County Treasurer from 1875 to 1882, and has discharged the duties of Village Trustee.
He was married Oct. 20, 1863, in Herkimer Co., N. Y., to S. Emma, daughter of R. H. and M. L. Smith, and they have had two children. Wallace A.
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was born Oct. 24, 1868. The other child died in in- fancy.
William T. and Mary (Williams) Roberts, the parents of Mr. Roberts of this sketch, were natives of North Wales. They emigrated to the State of New York and were married in Oneida County, where they remained until their death.
eorge M. Kinyon, farmer on the northeast quarter of section 8, Cortland Township, was born in Onondaga Co., N. Y., Aug. 5, 1827. His father, John Kinyon, was born Nov. 13, 1796, and is still living, with a son in the town of Ridgeway, Orleans Co., N. Y. George's mother, Lydia, nee Post, was born Nov. 28, 1800, and died in March, 1883, in Hartland Town- ship, Niagara Co., N. Y.
The subject of this sketch moved with his parents from his native place to Ridgeway when a lad, where his father bought a farm, which he still owns. At the age of 19 young George arrived in this county, May 15, 1847, and purchased the farm which he still owns and occupies. It consisted of 130 acres of prairie and 17 acres of timber. He and Mr. H. H. Gandy ·are the only men in this settlement who still own the land they bought in pioneer times when they first arrived here. On his place, when he purchased it, was a double log house, the farm was fenced and a large portion of it "broken " by the plow. Since then he has erected a fine frame residence, barn, outbuild- ings, etc., and kept the farm in a good agricultural condition.
By his first marriage, Nov. 12, 1848, Mr. Kinyon wedded Miss Marilla Churchill, in Sycamore Town- ship, this county. She was a daughter of David and Maria (Parker) Churchill, and died March 26 follow- ing, and now lies buried near the Baptist church in Ohio Grove Cemetery. She was not taken up and buried " under her mother's window," as Boies' his- tory says, but was taken to St. Charles and brought back. There was a second funeral, when she was buried in the same coffin, with the exception of a new lid, in the same grave. Her father was drowned in 1854, in Virgin Bay, on his way home from California, and her mother is still living in Iowa, the wife of Mr. Armstrong. For his second wife Mr. K. was wedded,
Oct. 22, 1849, to Mrs. Nancy P., widow of John Ad- kinson, who died Feb. 19, 1847, in Dearborn Co., Ind. He was born in Switzerland County, that State, in 1823. His daughter, Vesta A., who was born three weeks after his death, was his only child, and now lives in Washington Co., Kan. Mrs. Kinyon was born April 14, 1827, in the town of Philips, Franklin Co., Maine, the daughter of William Peace Whitney, -her father having been so named because he was born on the day peace was declared at the close of the Revolutionary War. He was born in Cumber- land Co., Mass, and died Dec. 29, 1863, at Cort- land. Her mother, Nancy J., nee Carlton, is living in Washington Co., Kan., with her son George, a farmer. She was born Nov. 30, 1806, in Cumberland Co., Mass.
By the second marriage of Mr. Kinyon there have been three children, as follows : John William, born Aug. 3r, 1850; Dexter D., Oct. 8, 1854; and Lydia G., May 18, 1857.
Mr. K. is a Republican, and both himself and wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
W. Morris, editor and proprietor of the Malta Mail, was born at Danbury, Conn., in the year 1822, and there resided for 40 years. He learned the woolen business, serv- ing his time with Dick & Sanford, at Sandy Hook, about ten miles from his native place. He was married in 1844, and at that time was carry- ing on the manufacture of cloths in his native town, and continued to do so until 1848, when he sold out and was appointed Deputy Sheriff under Phil. F. Barnum, a brother of P. T. Barnum, which office he held for three years. In 1851 he was again made Sheriff and held that office until 1862, when he re- signed and came West and settled at La Crosse, Wis., and went into the insurance business.
In 1864 he came with his family to Rockford, this State, and there remained until 1874, when he moved to Chicago, where he continued in the insurance bus- iness, traveling in the Western and Southern States. In 1877 he bought the Malta Mail, a paper that had just been started, also the Creston Times, in Ogle County, and with his sons, Howard A. and Charles H., they continued until the death of Charles H., in
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1882. In August, 1882, in company with his son Howard, they started the Rochelle Herald, at Rochelle, Ogle County, and now father and son are conducting the Malta Mail, Creston Times and Rochelle Herald, and all are in a healthy and grow- ing condition.
ames S. Waterman, one of the founders of Sycamore, now deceased, was born May 29, 1820, in the township of Salisbury, Herkimer Co., N. Y., and was the son of John D. and Mary Waterman. In 1822 his parents removed to the village of Fairfield in the same county, where his father engaged in commercial pur- suits, and where the son became a student at the academy. The father dying before the latter had reached the threshold of manhood, he was early brought to a realization of the effort necessary to a successful struggle with the world, to which he was made heir by the loss of his natural protector.
His mother was a woman of sterling character and more than ordinary intellectual capacity, and her sons entered upon their careers with the double in- heritance of brains and business tact. James studied civil engineering, and in 1838 joined his brother Charles in the State of Illinois, making his first location at Newburg, Boone County, and after- wards at Sayersville in Winnebago County. North- ern Illinois presented an excellent field for the exercise of the calling for which his educational course had fitted him, and he passed five years as an as- sistant in the survey and adjustment of the townships and minor divisions. This work developed his natural traits of activity, energy and perseverance, and proved the foundation of a substantial fortune. The intervals of service in the employ of the Gov- ernment were passed in the mercantile business with his brother at Sycamore, the site of the place being then located on the Kishwaukee River, on the plat made by the New York Company in 1836. He ob- tained the position of Deputy Surveyor of De Kalb County, and in 1839 made the survey and plat of the site of the present city of Sycamore. His abili- ties in his profession, and his capacity for unremit- ting effort, gained for him a substantial reputation as
a business man, and an influence which he excited for the general welfare, and in 1842 lie brought his prestige to bear materially on the extinction of the State debt of Illinois by aiding in securing the meas- ure designated the "two-mill tax," whose results demonstrated the value of its provisions.
In 1844 Mr. Waterman established a mercantile enterprise at the village of Genoa, situated on the northern border of De Kalb County. In the spring of 1845 he became a permanent citizen of Sycamore, founding the first enduring mercantile business at that place, opening his transactions in that avenue in a room of the old Mansion House, now the City Hotel and situated on the corner of State and Main Streets. He admitted his brother, John C. Water- man, to an interest in his business, and this relation existed until 1852, when he became again sole pro- prietor by purchase of a circuit of branch stores lo- cated in adjoining settlements, and of the main enterprise at Sycamore. He continued their man- agement until 1857, when he sold them to be able to give his undivided attention to banking, in which he had embarked in 1855.
As an evidence of the care, wisdom, judgment and forethought he exercised in his business relations, it may be remarked in this connection, that he passed securely through the financial crisis of 1857, with no other embarrassment than the perplexity unavoidably incident to business of any character in a period of general panic and shrinkage of values. In 1864 Mr. Waterman closed active operations as a banker and devoted the remainder of his life practically to the promotion of agriculture in De Kalb County. His familiarity with the localities of the county and his comprehension of their comparative values had enabled him to make judicious purchases of real es- tate. He became the owner of farms variously situ- ated in De Kalb County, prominent among which was a tract of 1,000 acres on the southern border of Sycamore township, which constituted a claim and which he secured by purchase when it came into market, and of which he retained possession as long as he lived. His landed estate extended into other States, including extensive tracts of pine land in Wisconsin; and he also owned a considerable amount of real estate in Chicago, which he improved exten- sively after the great fire. About the year 1881 lie made an investment in a mine in Southern California,
Confusedquick
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which yields a large income and promises enormous increase in value.
Mr. Waterman identified himself with every enter- prise in which he could discern a promise of perma- nent advantage to Sycamore. In 1871 he founded the Sycamore National Bank, and continued its chief official up to his death. He was the primal factor in the construction of the Sycamore & Cortland Rail- road, and was President of the corporation until the road became the property of the stock-holders of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad. He was the leader in the establishment of the Marsh Harvester Manufactory at Sycamore, and was its heaviest stock- holder in the beginning of the enterprise. When the company was re-organized he retained his interest, and was its Vice-President while he lived. On the organization of the Ellwood Manufacturing Company, he became a heavy stock-holder and was its presiding officer until 1881.
The chief memorial of James S. Waterman is the church edifice of the Episcopal parish of St. Peter's at Sycamore, whose superstructure was erected wholly at his expense. It is built of the beautiful Batavia stone, and is tastefully modeled, resembling the private chapels of the English nobility in form. Mr. Waterman was one of the parish founders, which was established in 1855, and one of the closing acts of his life was to provide in part for the perpetuation of its support. The adorning of the inner walls was planned by him after he was stricken by fatal dis- ease, and completed as he had designed, after he had passed from earth, and for which purpose he had appropriated the necessary means. In the nave of the church on the right of the chancel, a beautiful brass mural tablet, suitably inscribed, has been placed to his memory.
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