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 23
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He had been in the habit, during the winter sea- sons of the latter years of his life, of traveling in the Southern States and in New Mexico and California. In the winter of 1882-3, while in the Golden State, he decided on a trip to view some mining property in New Mexico, whither he went, accompanied by his brother Robert, remaining at Riverside, Cal., until May following, when he returned to his home. His disease baffled the best medical skill to be obtained, and he finally went to Chicago for treatment. . All efforts proved futile, and Thursday, July 19, 1883, the electric messenger conveyed to Sycamore the
tidings that the weary struggle with the "guest that goes not forth alone " was ended. On the day fol- lowing he came back to his beloved people and home, voiceless and coffined for everlasting rest and peace. It was the first sorrow he had brought to the portals of the home which had been his pride and joy, and where his living presence had been a com- fort and blessing which words are powerless to char- acterize. In his journeyings he had made many friends, and on the Pacific slope, as in the State of his adoption, a cry of mourning went forth when the intelligence was borne back that James S. Waterman had gone forever from the scenes of earth, which had known him so well.
Mr. Waterman was first married in 1847, on the 5th of January; to Mary A. Ferson. She died in De- cember, 1850, having borne a son-Douglass Water- man-who died in 1855, aged seven years. Mr. Waterman was again married Jan. 30, 1854, to Abbie L., daughter of Isaac Cushman, M. D., of Sherburne, N. Y. Mrs. Waterman is a representative of one of the leading families, in point of culture and refine- ment, in the East. In the years of her wedded life she exemplified, in the truest sense, the highest and best domestic graces. Her home was ever the arena for the exercise of the noblest womanly traits, and in it she wields the sway of an exalted nature under the guidance of a well trained and disciplined spirit.
on. Westel W. Sedgwick, attorney, senior member of the law firm of Sedgwick & Son at Sandwich, was born June 7, 1827, in Westmoreland, Oneida Co., N. Y., at a point four miles from the city of Rome. His father, Samuel Sedgwick, was a physician, and was born in 1803, in Herkimer Co. N. Y., and married Ruhamah P. Knights. In May, 1844, he removed his family to Little Rock, Kendall Co., Ill., and entered a claim of So acres of land, subsequently increasing his estate to 163 acres. His death occurred at Little Rock, March 1, 1847. His wife was born in Oswego Co., N. Y., in 1807, and she is living with her daugh- ter Elizabeth, Mrs. Oliver S. Hendee, at Sandwich, who is the eldest daughter. Sarah A. is the wife of William Brewer, a farmer of Chariton Co., Mo. James
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H. is an attorney and is practicing his profession at Peoria, Ill. Three children are deceased.
Mr. Sedgwick obtained an available education in youth and utilized his time and abilities in teaching. He began to prepare for the profession of medicine under the direction of his uncle, Parker Sedgwick, of Du Page Co., Ill., and subsequently studied in his father's office, acquiring a substantial preparation for matriculation at Rush Medical College in Chicago, where he was graduated in r848, after studying one term. The death of his father in the previous year opened an opportunity for him to enter upon and es- tablish his profession, and he succeeded to his father's practice at Little Rock, continuing to operate as a physician until the autumn of r857. He also con- ducted a mercantile enterprise three years.
At the date named he came to Sandwich and be- came by purchase the possessor of 10 acres of land, which he platted, and it is now comprised within the city limits. He bought 80 acres additional soon after, associated with Hon. S. B. Stinson, and later a por- tion of the tract was platted and is designated "Sedg- wick's Addition to Sandwich." On the latter purchase he erected his residence, the grounds accompanying now containing one acre, of which he is yet the owner. On locating at Sandwich, in partnership with O. S. Hendee, he established a drug trade which was in operation nearly three years. His change of locality and business was necessitated by an attack of inflammatory rheumatism, which com- pelled him to relinquish the practice of his profes- sion, the disease incapacitating him for the severe labors of a widely distributed business in medical avenues, and he engaged in the sale of drugs, for ob- vious reasons. In 1860 he was elected Justice of the Peace and opened an office for the accommoda- tion of the business pertaining to his official position, in which he has continued mostly without intermis- sion. The relations of his office secured for him a practical knowledge of common and statutory law, and incidentally he entered upon the study of the code, which course eventuated in his systematic ap- plication to the acquirement of a comprehensive knowledge; and in the spring of 1862 he passed the prescribed course of examination at Ottawa, and was admitted to practice in the State Courts.
In the fall of the same year he was elected Repre- sentative in the Legislature, serving in that capacity
through the sessions of 1862-3 and 1863-4. On be- ing relieved of the duties incumbent upon his official position, he opened an office for the practice of law, and conducted its affairs singly until 1882, when he admitted his son, S. Park Sedgwick, to a partnership. The house is managing with success a large and im- portant practice, and they represent, in addition, r2 prominent fire insurance companies, comprising some of the most reliable in the United States. They are also transacting a considerable business as real-estate and loan agents.
Since the date of his location at Sandwich, now (1885) covering a period of nearly 30 years, Mr. Sedgwick has been unremitting in his interest and zeal for the material well-being of the place and peo- ple. On the organization of the Sandwich Manufac- turing Company in 1867 he was one of the earliest to enter heartily into the enterprise ; he was one of the Directors from the outset, and was elected Vice- President, in which capacity he officiated several years and which was terminated by a sale of his in- terest. He took an active part in the organization and establishment of the Sandwich Enterprise Com- pany, in which he became a Director and of which he was subsequently made President. He held the position three years, and still remains one of the heaviest stockholders. He identified himself with the Sandwich Cheese Factory Company, was a stock- holder therein and became President, holding the chief position in the organization three years.
He has been interested and prominent in local political circles, and is at present serving a second term as City Attorney. He has been Supervisor of Somonauk Township several years, and was Presi- dent of the Board of Trustees of Sandwich before it became a city. When it assumed corporate dignity Mr. Sedgwick was made its first Mayor, and was re- elected to that incumbency. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of Illinois in the fall of 1869, and was an important and influential actor in framing the present Constitution of the State. In r874 Mr. Sedgwick was appointed by Governor Beveridge to fill a vacancy on the Board of Trustees of the Insane Asylum at Jacksonville, and discharged the duties of the position nearly two years. He went abroad in 1881 and traveled through the most inter- esting portions of Europe, Asia and Africa, visiting Palestine, and making a trip on the river Nile. Dur- ing his absence he contributed a series of entertain-
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ing and instructive letters to the Sandwich Free Press.
His marriage to Sarah A. Toombs occurred .June 7, 1848, at Little Rock, Kendall Co., Ill. She was born Nov. 22, 1827, near Buffalo, N. Y., and is the daughter of William and Alta Toombs. To Mr. and Mrs. Sedgwick 10 children have been born, five only now surviving, who were born in the following order : Agnes E .; Caroline Gertrude, wife of Webster Dyas, a druggist at Arlington Heights, Cook Co., Ill .; S. Park, of Sedgwick & Son; Charles F., Deputy Post- master at Sandwich ; and Jennie May.
Mr. Sedgwick is prominent in influence and posi- tion at Sandwich, from causes which have been foreshadowed in the record of his career. He pos- sesses great versatility in point of ability, and has been equally successful in medicine and law. In the latter he has won a position second to no other attorney in De Kalb County and has distinguished himself in his connection with some of the most noted cases that have come before the Courts of Northern Illinois. In probity and integrity and soundness of opinion and judgment he is second to none, and is estimated accordingly in the community where he resides. He is a member of the Presby- terian Church, and has been largely instrumental in establishing the permanent interests of the Society. Sandwich is greatly indebted to him for its rapid and substantial advancement in all its leading relations.
The portrait of Mr. Sedgwick, which appears on another page, is a signal addition to the collated biographical and historical records of De Kalb County, from his character as a man and citizen and his position in the community of which he is a member.
ohn White, farmer, section 9, Genoa Town- ship, is the son of John and Barbara (Bamar) White. His parents were natives of Germany, and had a family of eight chil- dren. Mr. White was the fifth in order of birth and was born in Germany, March 5, 1815. In 1846 he emigrated to America from the Kingdomn of Bavaria, and on arrival in the United States first set- tled in Pennsylvania. He remained there between two and three years, and in 1849 came to De Kalb
County and bought 80 acres of land in Genoa Town- ship. He has brought his old-country thrift, energy and persistency of purpose to bear in his efforts to secure for himself the privileges of the land of his adoption, and is now the proprietor of 350 acres of land in De Kalb County, with 250 acres under cul- tivation. He is a member of the Republican party in political connection.
Mr. White was married in the fall of 1846, in Pennsylvania, to Anna M. Hoffman, a native of Bavaria, and they have had seven children,-Charles, George, Margaret, Caroline, John, Henry and Mary. Mrs. White was born Feb. 10, 1820, in Germany.
eorge W. Dunton, City Attorney of Syca- more, was born Aug. 6, 1854, in Belvidere, Boone Co., Ill. His parents, William S. and Almira (Baldwin) Dunton, are natives of Bennington Co., Vt. The birth of the former occurred Aug. 31, 1813. He settled in the village of Belvidere in 1846, where he is now resid- ing. The mother of George W. also survives. They had four children. The first-born died in infancy. Mary is the wife of Samuel Kerr, an attorney of Chi- cago. Nellie was born next in order.
Mr. Dunton is the youngest child of his parents, and passed the years of his boyhood and youth al- ternately on the farm and at the schools of Belvidere, until he was 17 years of age, when he matriculated at the University of the State of Iowa, at Iowa City. He was a student four years in the Literary Depart- ment of that institution, and was graduated in June, 1875, with the degree of A. B. In the same year he entered the Union College of Law in Chicago, where he was graduated in 1877, after two years of close application to the study of law.
Coming to Sycamore he formed a business relation with the late R. L. Divine, which continued to exist till the fall of 1880. Since that date Mr. Dunton has conducted the connections of his office singly, and has built up a fine and popular practice.
Mr. Dunton is a representative of a New England family of the best type; one that has occupied a front rank in the circles of culture and refinement for generations, and whose genuine claims have given it a prominence second to none. He brings to his life
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work his inheritance of self-respect and the capacity for earnest effort, which is conspicuously the dowry descending to him from his ancestral stock. To young and rising men of his calibre the profession looks hopefully for its redemption from the evils which are upon it in these latter days.
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Mr. Dunton was elected City Attorney of Syca- more in the spring of 1883.
ohn P. Smith, farmer on the southwest quarter of section 36, Cortland Township, was born in West Somers, Westchester Co., N. Y., Feb. 28, 1809. His father, Samuel Smith, was born in Westchester Co., N. Y., of English descent, was a cooper by vocation all his life, and died in his native county, about 32 years of age. The mother of John P., Elizabeth, nee Nichols, also a native of that county and of English ancestry, died in the same county, aged about 79 years. His grandfather first settled on Long Island, N. Y.
The subject of this biographical sketch lived, after his father's decease, with a man in Putnam Co., N.Y., working for his board and clothing, from the age of nine until he was 16 years of age. He then served an apprenticeship of five years at the wagon-maker's trade, and then never followed it a single day after- ward. His next career was as a violinist for a travel- ing circus most of the time for 12 years, and part of the time as manager, when he made about $14,000. He then bought a farm of 120 acres in Putnam Co., N. Y., and managed it for four years, going then into the milk business in New York city, four years. Next, he returned and purchased another farm in Putnam County, of 130 acres, and followed the daily business for six years, making a specialty also of fat cattle and sheep; sold this place, bought his father-in-law's farm, and resided upon it two years; sold that to Daniel Drew, came West, to Pike Co., Ill., looked around a month, and then throughout the State for a year, when he finally, in 1852, bought the quarter section where he now resides. To his original pur- chase he subsequently added until at one time he had as much as 700 acres. His present place was clean prairie when he came here, with only a small house upon it. Although Mr. Smith had no school educa-
tion with which to begin life, nor even a cent of money, he has taught himself reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as those business principles which have enabled him to accumulate property by the habits of honest industry; and he has accordingly made his home a substantial one, and earned a high reputation among his fellow citizens. He has been Supervisor, Highway Commissioner, and School Director, and in his political principles he acts with the Republican party.
He was first married Jan. 20, 1836, to Zillah Haines, who was born Oct. 14, 1814, in Westchester Co., N. Y., died July 31, 1871, and is buried in the Maple Park burying ground. Her father, Horace Haines, died in Putnam Co., N. Y., about 63 years of age, and her mother, Jane, nee Youmans, also died in that county, at the age of about 88 years. Mr. Smith was married a second time Oct. 12, 1873, to Mrs. Eliza Denton, widow of Solomon Denton and daughter of Harry and Rebecca (Smith) Crosby. Mr. Smith's children are all by his first wife, namely : Lemore M., Leonard Y., Eliza J. and Horace; and his wife's children by her first husband are, Mary, Re- becca, Julia, Lavinia, Elizabeth, Gilbert, and one deceased.
avid W. Hartman, editor and proprietor of the Genoa Issue, was born Feb. 9, 1854, in Cortland, De Kalb County. His par- ents, Elias and Almira (Churchill) Hartman, Clear are natives respectively of Pennsylvania and the State of New York. In 1837 they came to De Kalb County and "took up " a homestead claim in what is now the township of Cortland, set- tling thereon previous to the Government survey. They sold the place later and removed to Sycamore, the father engaging in a mercantile enterprise, in which he was interested nine years. At the expira- tion of that period he disposed of his commercial business by sale and became again a farmer in the the township of Cortland, prosecuting that business about four years. His next enterprise was in the capacity of hotel-keeper in the village of Cortland, and he conducted affairs in that line seven years. He again sold out and removed to Rochelle, Ill., re- maining three years, and returning thence to Syca-
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more, where he has since resided. The other children belonging to the family are Delos, Philo, Mary, Rosetta, Wallace and Carrie D.
Mr. Hartman passed the early part of his life in attendance at school, and at 18 years of age was. apprenticed to learn the trade of a printer in the office of the True Republican at Sycamore, under the direction of the editor, H. L. Boies. In 1880 he be- came associated with the latter in the proprietorship of the paper, the connection existing until September, 1884, when Mr. Hartman severed his connection with the journal and established the Issue at Genoa. His enterprise had a gratifying inception, met with favor and support, and is rapidly gaining ground and securing a permanent foothold. Mr. Hartman is a Republican in political preference, but is conducting his newspaper on the neutral principle.
His marriage to Mary Robinson took place at Sycamore, Aug. 7, 1879, and they have had two chil- dren,-Ethel C., born Jan. 2, 1881, and died Aug. 8 following; and Floyd B., born March 16, 1884. Mrs. Hartman is the daughter of Horace and Ann E. Robinson, both natives of Massachusetts, whence they removed to Illinois. The former died at Saxon, Henry Co., Ill., and the latter resides at Genoa.
A bram Ellwood, manufacturer of barbed wire fence stretchers at Sycamore, is the son of Hon. Reuben Ellwood, M. C., whose sketch may be found elsewhere. He is con- nected with the business interests of the firm lately known as the R. Ellwood Manufactur- ing Company, whose affairs have recently been as- sumed by the senior stock-holder.
Mr. Ellwood was born March 26, 1850, in Scotia, Schenectady Co., N. Y. He was a pupil at school until he was 16 years of age, when he engaged as a railroad contractor, operating at various points in the management of construction corps of different lines, among which were the New Orleans, Mobile & Texas Railroad and a line formerly known as the Milwau- kee & Northern. On the termination of his transac- tions in that capacity, he engaged in the duties of a freight and passenger conductor, following that line of business on various railroads. He was an attache of the United States Mail service on the Missouri,
Kansas & Texas, on the Chicago & Northwestern and on the Chicago, Lafayette & Cincinnati Rail- roads.
In the fall of 1877 he entered upon the responsi- bilities of the position of Superintendent of the R. Ellwood Manufacturing Company, in which he was engaged until the fall of 1880. At that date he en- gaged in the manufacture of wire-fence stretchers and novelties, in December, 1884, consolidating his interests with his former business and becoming manager.
Mr. Ellwood was married Jan. 3, 1876, to Emma L. Garvin, and they have four children: Mildred G. was born Feb. 3, 1878 ; Sallie E., July 18, 1879; Reuben, Jr., Sept. 25, 1881; Emma E., Aug. 7, 1883. Mrs. Ellwood was born Dec. 6, 1848, in Chichester, N. H.
Mr. Ellwood has officiated one term as Alderman of Sycamore.
W. C. Joslyn, farmer on the south- west quarter of the southeast quarter of section 29, Cortland Township, was born in Darien, Genesee Co., N. Y., Nov. 22, 1824, and when ten years of age moved with his par- ents to Erie Co., N. Y. In July, 1844, he came by steamboat to Chicago, that place having then only 5,000 inhabitants. He came on to Sycamore with Andrew Lovell and Homer Roberts, and in October following he went to Wisconsin and spent the II ensuing winters in the pineries; the summers he spent on the Mississippi River, sawing and rafting lumber to St. Louis, Mo., or was at Sycamore. While in the pineries he learned the Chippewa language of the Indians. He walked 11 times to the pineries, a distance of 300 miles, and walked from La Salle and Peru to Sycamore when he saw no other human being on the whole route except at Paw Paw and Shab- bona Grove. Once he drove an ox team to the pineries, and his only stopping places were the hotels along the way, which were generally 40 miles apart!
In 1856 he quit lumbering and bought 400 acres of land, of Mr. West, the banker at Geneva; the next year he sold to his partner, L. F. Dow, but in 1858 he bought back 60 acres, on which he has since resided and prospered. He has borne a share of the
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public burden by serving as Overseer of the Poor and Path Master.
Mr. Joslyn was married June 18, 1856, to Mrs. Philura L. White, widow of George H. White, who died in Calfornia in 1852. They had one child, George M., born May 8, 1849, who is now a resident of Kan- sas. Her father, Martin L. Lowel, was born in Lam- ster, N. H., Dec. 14, 1792, and was in the War of 1812, and was a pensioner. Her mother, Melinda C. La Porte, was born in New Jersey, June 6, 1798. Both of them died in Sycamore. Her parents came to this country in 1870, but she herself had come in
1855. Mrs. J. was born in 1825, in Brookfield, Washington Co., Vt. Mr. Joslyn's father, Orsamus R., was born in 1800 and died in 1864, in Alden, Erie Co., N. Y .; and his mother, Osia, nee Sprague, was born in 1806, and died in the above county, in 1844. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Joslyn are : Colin C., born Dec. 9, 1857, now an attorney at law in Minneapolis, Minn .; Carlin D., born May I, 1859, now at Deer Lodge, Montana, 600 miles north- west of Salt Lake City; Dan R., born Oct. 7, 1863, and died in 1870; Minnie O. and Linnie R., twins, were born April 8, 1870.
ames M. Dayton, of the firm of Dayton & Stafford, dealers in live stock at Sycamore, was born Jan. 16, 1839, in the township of Cortland, and has been a resident of De Kalb County all his life. His father, Alvin Dayton, was born in 1809 in Vermont, and removed with his family to De Kalb County in its earliest days. He is the oldest living pioneer settler of Cortland Township. The mother of James M., Abigail, nee Wyman, is a native of Massachusetts.
Mr. Dayton is the second in order of birth of six children born to his parents, four of whom are still living. He began his struggle with fate on attaining his majority, and soon found himself the possessor of 90 acres of land, the result of persistent energy and perseverance in laudable effort. The property was located in his native township and he continued its proprietor six years. At the end of that time he bought a farm in the town of Virgil, in Kane County. His possessions there now embrace 320 acres, the property being in charge of a tenant.
In 187 t he came to Sycamore and embarked in
the enterprise in which he is now occupied, and also engaged in the management of a restaurant in part- nership with his brother. Four years later he re- turned to his farm, and after a stay of nearly three years became again a factor in the business element of Sycamore. The shipments during the busy season of Messrs. Dayton & Stafford average about 100 car- loads. 'In summer Mr. D. operates a large road- grader, and among other merchandise they deal in drain tile and sewer pipe.
The wife of Mr. Dayton was formerly Ann A. Ewings, and their marriage took place Oct. 7, 1861. Mrs. Dayton was born in Ohio, and is the daughter of George and Deborah Ewings. The children born of their union are five in number. Mary, born Jan. 5, 1863, is the wife of Herbert E. Harmon, agent for a nursery house, and resident at Morenci, Mich .; Grant A. was born Dec. 5, 1865, in Cortland Town- ship; Nora A. was born Sept. 25, 1867 ; Lottie, Oct. . 21, 1869, in Virgil Township; Josie, Sept. 17, 1873, in Sycamore Township.
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A lexander Crawford, merchant at Genoa, was born Dec. 22, 1822, in the State of Pennsylvania, where his parents, Alexan- der and Rachel (Kidd) Crawford, were also born. They removed thence with their chil- dren in the fall of 1839, and settled in the township of Sycamore, where their mother died, in 1851. Later, the father went to Iowa and died there.
Mr. Crawford is the second son of his parents, who became the parents of eight children. He passed the earlier years of his life obtaining his edu- cation and assisting on his father's farm. His first independent venture in business was on a rented farm, on which he operated two years, and at the end of that time pre-empted 160 acres of land in Genoa Township. On this he prosecuted the interests of a farmer until 1873, when he bought another farm, of which he took possession and was engaged in culti- vating two years. In 1875 he removed to Genoa village and began to operate in butter and eggs, gradually extending his relations until he converted them into those of a general merchant. He is con- ducting a very extensive business, one of the leading
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