Portrait and biographical album of DeKalb County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 38

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Bros.
Number of Pages: 888

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 38

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Mr. Alden obtained a good common-school educa-

tion, and completed his studies at the High School in his native place, coming West at the age of 20 years. During the first year of his stay in De Kalb County, he was occupied as a farm assistant in the township of Mayfield. He taught school the following winter, and in 1856 came to Sycamore, where he followed the bent of inclination and acquired a complete knowledge of the art of making daguerreotypes and ambrotypes. He made a success of that line of busi- ness until the crisis of 1857, when the stringencies of the times wrought such a change in the faces of his patrons as precluded their reproduction on plates or in ordinary cameras (unless in sections) from in- ordinate length (!), and Mr. Alden disposed of his business. Within the same year he obtained the position of Clerk in the Recorder's office at Sycamore, under James H. Beveridge, where he officiated until 1859. In that year he entered the banking house of the late J. S. Waterman. He discharged the duties of cashier and confidential clerk in that institution until 1864, with no intermission save a period of three months in 1861, which he passed in the mili -.. tary service of the United States, as leader of the 13th Illinois regimental band (recruited and organized by his efforts), with the rank of Lieutenant. In 1864.5 he accepted an appointment in the State Savings Bank of Chicago, where he was employed two years. In 1866 he became a traveling agent in the interests of various fire insurance companies, as a general ad- juster of losses and supervisor of agencies. In 1870 he became assistant and acting secretary of the Lamar Insurance Company of Chicago, a corporation of which the Hon. Leonard Swett was President. His connection with that body was terminated by the great fire of October, 1871. At the earnest solicita- tion of J. S. Waterman and others, he returned to Sycamore and was elected to the responsible position which he has since held in the National Bank, and in which he is now a heavy stock-holder. Since the death of James S. Waterman in July, 1883, Mr. Alden, having been named in the will as one of the executors of the estate, has borne the chief responsi- bility in the settlement of the extensive connections of the property, which is estimated at a value of more than half a million dollars. He is also executor and administrator of the estates of John S. Hunt and John C. Waterman, deceased. The manner in which Mr. Alden has executed the responsibilities of the trusts devolving upon him, proves the genuineness of

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his integrity and the justice of the reputation he has earned for energy and executive ability, as well as probity and unswerving rectitude.

Mr. Alden's general relations with the interests of Sycamore are as extensive as those of any of its citi- zens, and he gives considerate attention and substan- tial aid to all schemes, religious, educational, or in any sense conducive to the general welfare. He has been identified with many of the manufacturing en- terprises established at various periods at Sycamore.

On the organization of the Board of Education he was elected a member thereof and made its Secre- tary. He officiated in that office six years, taking a special interest in and giving much personal attention to matters pertaining to educational affairs. He is at present (1885) Township Treasurer of Sycamore, having been appointed his own successor in that re- sponsible office. As a member of the Board of Mana- gers, and as Secretary and Treasurer of the Elmwood Cemetery Company, in which positions he has offici- ated a number of years, he has accomplished much in the way of improving and beautifying the grounds connected according to the purpose for which they are set apart. Together with other business interests at Sycamore, he established an insurance agency, and has since conducted extensive and successful relations in that avenue, being at the date of this writing assisted by his son, Fred H. Alden. He rep- resents 14 leading home and foreign fire insurance companies, with an aggregate capital of nearly $100,000,000.

Mr. Alden is a member of the Congregational Church, an officerof the society, and an active worker in the Sunday-school. He has been Superintendent for several years, also a prominent member of the choir, and characteristically interested and alert in discern- ing and promoting the welfare of the Church. The entire family of Mr. Alden are members of the same Church; a fact worthy of note.

The marriage of Mr. Alden to Laura J. Sawyer, of Sycamore, took place Feb. 29, 1860. She is the daughter of Alfred and Margaret Sawyer, and was born in Massachusetts, March 13, 1843. The union of Mr. and Mrs. Alden has been blessed by the birth of four children. The first-Henry L .- died in in- fancy. The others-Susie E., Abbie W. and Fred H .- are still joyous members of a model household, and bless and brighten the home circle. The family residence is on Somonauk Street. It is known as the

highest of earth's treasures, a happy home enshrin- ing happy parents and happy children.

Mr. Alden, in his character and daily walk, is a fine representative of the stock from which he springs. He inherits all the traits of the best elements of New England, which has supplied the material for men who have constructed the West. Like his an- cestors, he is a self-made man. He is not only tem- perate in his habits, but he also is and has always been a total abstainer from the use of tobacco or liquor in any form.

orton McKeague, farmer, section 32, King- ston Township, was born July 15, 1830, in the county of Durham, Ont., and is the son of William and Charlotte (McDonald) McKeague, both of whom were born in Canada, of Scotch ancestry. They continued to reside in Canada after their marriage, and there passed their entire lives, where they reared their six chil- dren, named Norton, Diana, William, George, Helen and Mary.

Mr. McKeague was educated in the excellent schools of the Dominion, remaining until he was 18 years of age, receiving a thorough course of instruc -. tion in agricultural pursuits. At the age mentioned he went to the State of New York and passed three years in Livingston County, and subsequently re- turned to Canada. He remained there about 18 months, and in October, 1853, he came to Kane Co., Ill. He operated there four years, and in 1857 re- moved to De Kalb County. He purchased 85 acres in Kingston Township, which has since been his homestead. Five acres of his estate are in timber. He has spent six years in Grand Traverse Co., Mich., where he was employed between two and three years in a saw-mill, and at the end of that time- he built a grist-mill, and he continued its manage- ment more than two years.

In political faith and principles Mr. McKeague is a Republican. He has officiated two terms as School Director, and the same length of time as Overseer of Highways.

He was married March 5, 1854, in Kane Co., Ill., to Mary A., daughter of Samuel and Catherine Ault. Her parents were born in Pennsylvania, and came

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to Kane County in 1851. Two years after, they set- tled in the township of Kingston. The mother died March 28, 1866; the father's death occurred Nov. 17, 1868. Mrs. McKeague was born March 9, 1826, in Lycoming Co., Pa. Of her marriage six children have been born: William B., Dec. 27, 1854; Sam- uel F., Aug. 24, 1856; Catherine, May 16, 1858; Addison A., March 19, 1860; Clara, Aug. 23, 1861; Myron, Dec. 23, 1864.

eorge W. Gurley, of Sandwich, is the fifth lineal descendant from William Gur- ley, a younger son of a Scotch earl who was born in Scotland in 1665, and surrepti- tiously brought thence to America when he was 14 years of age. He was reared at Northamp- ton, Mass., was married there and lost his life by drowning when 22 years old. He left a son, Samuel Gurley, who was born May 17, 1687, and died Feb. 23, 1760. He became the father of two sons and eight daughters. Samuel (2d), the third child and youngest son, was born June 30, 1717, married Sarah Ward, and after her death became the husband of Hannah Walker. Five children were born to him,- Nahum, Hannah, Lois, Zenas and Margaret. Zenas, the youngest son, was married to L. Dimock and afterward to E. Hovey, becoming by the second mar- riage the father of four children,-Henry, Eunice, Lovinia and Zenas H. The last named was born in 1801 and married Margaret Hickey, Sept. 18, 1825. He died Aug. 28, 1872. To him and his wife II children were born, four dying in infancy. Of those who attained mature age, Samuel, Louisa and Julia M. were married and are now deceased; the two latter left families. Col. John E. Gurley is also deceased. Zenas is a resident at Pleasanton, Decatur Co., Iowa, and has a wife and five children. Mr. Gurley is next in order. Edwin H., a resident of Lamoni, Decatur Co., Iowa, has a wife and two sons,- Zenas and Edwin. The two brothers last named are ministers. John E. was a practicing attorney at Shullsburg, Lafayette Co., Wis., and became a soldier for the Union. He raised and organized a 4 company of volunteers and was made its Captain. It went to the field as Co. E, 33d Wis. Vol. Inf., and was in active military service throughout the entire

war. He was a brave soldier and a competent officer, and returned to Wisconsin after the termina- tion of the conflict, with the rank of Colonel. His long and arduous service was the cause of his death, in April, 1868. Zenas H. Gurley, the father, was for a number of years a clergyman, and at the time of his death was a minister in the denomination known as the Latter-Day Saints. He died on Buffalo Prairie, Ill.

Mr. Gurley of this sketch was born Dec. 1, 1847, at Elizabeth, Jo Daviess Co., Ill. His parents re- moved soon after to Lafayette Co., Wis., remaining there about ten years and locating next on a farm near Galesburg, Ill. In 1864 they settled in Ken- dall County, two miles east of Sandwich. When he was 15 years old, Mr. Gurley entered the High School at Mount Carroll, Ill., where he was a stu- dent through four successive winters, passing his spare time in working for his board and tuition and he also sawed wood to pay for his books. When he was 17 years of age he bought his time and engaged in teaching, two miles east of Sandwich, in what was then Tollman's district, where he engaged in that profession winters, at $40 dollars per month. In the summer of 1866 he finished his course of study at the High School at Mount Carroll.

In the spring of 1867 he engaged as a salesman in the store of A. B. Crofoot at Sandwich, receving for his services $15 per month. He continued in the position nearly two years, when he took charge of a branch store at Plano, in the interest of the same employer, being there six months. He went to Mex- ico, Mo., where he was employed two years, at a yearly salary of $800, and expenses. On the ter- mination of that engagement he went to. Wisconsin and entered the employment of his brother in a general mercantile establishment. The business asso- ciate of his brother died, and Mr. Gurley settled the estate, after which he returned to Sandwich (1873). He engaged as a salesman in a store, and two years later formed a co-partnership in the sale of general merchandise, under the firm style of Pratt, Good- man & Gurley. After operating three years the house became Pratt & Gurley, the new firm prosecuting their affairs jointly about four years. Mr. Gurley sold out in 1882 and entered the employment of the Sandwich Manufacturing Company, operating at first as an expert in the machine department and as

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salesman, also acting as collector and in the transac- tion of general business. On the first day of Sep- tember, 1884, he was placed in the office and the department of collection entrusted to his charge, which he has since conducted, its duties requiring the aid of two assistants. Mr. Gurley officiated as City Clerk nearly two years. He is a member of the fraternity of Odd Fellows and belongs to Sandwich Lodge, No. 212. He- is also a member of Meteor Lodge, No. 283, F. & A. M., of Sandwich Chapter, No. 107, and of No. 22, Aurora Commandery.

He was united in marriage in Sheridan, La Salle Co., Ill., June 10, 1875, to Jennie Griswold. Their two children were born in Sandwich, as follows : Mabel, Feb. 28, 1876, and died Feb. 6, 1877; Edna May, March 27, 1879. Mrs. Gurley is the daughter of Norman R. and Dora A. (David) Griswold, and was born Aug. 28, 1856, in Honesdale, Pa. Mr. and Mrs. Gurley are members of the Congregational Church.

Mr. Gurley has a photograph of the coat-of-arms which constituted the insignia of rank of his noble ancestors, an original being in the possession of other members of the family.

harles H. White, farmer, section 29, Somonauk Township, was born on the farm where he now resides, July 2, 1859. His father, Thomas White, was a shoemaker in early life and was a native of Washington Co., N. Y., where he was born Feb. 15, 1815. The mother, Ann E. (Tucker) White, was born in Washington Co., N. Y., June 2, 1815. The family removed to Somonauk Township in the spring of 1856, and took up their residence on section 9 on a rented farm 160 acres in extent. Later they re- moved to a rented farm in Squaw Grove Township, where the parents lived until 1859. In that year the farm on section 29 was purchased, and there the father died, Feb. 18, 1882. The demise of the mother occurred on the homestead, Sept. 4, 1883. The family included to children, of whom but three are living. Emily A. is the wife of William J. Randles, a farmer of Clinton Township.

Mr. White is the only surviving son, and his birth Was the event that marked the year in which the

farm was purchased, where he has always lived, and where he is engaged in the successful prosecu- tion of the business in which his father passed the the greater part of his life. He has a fine herd of 15 Short-Horn Durham cows, and conducts a profit- able dairy business. He is a Democrat.

Mr. White was married Jan. 3, 1883, to Cornelia M., daughter of James and Jeannette (Rickey) Mar- shall, of Henderson Co., Ill., where she was born, Aug. 17, 1861. With her husband, she belongs to the United Presbyterian Church.

tacy P. Kenyon, Justice of the Peace, No- tary Public and real-estate agent, at Syca- more, was born Nov. 7, 1826, in Washing- ton Co., N. Y. His father, John Kenyon, was born July 14, 1800, in the State of New York, and married Betsey Potter, who was born May 7, 1803, in Washington Co., N. Y. The family re- moved in 1840 to Elgin Township, Kane Co., Ill., where the father purchased 220 acres of land and made additions to his possessions until he was the owner of nearly 400 acres of land, all under fine im- provement. In 1846 he bought 240 acres of land in the township of Virgil, Kane Co., Ill., and became a resident there, remaining until the fall of 1875, the date of his removal to Sycamore.º In the spring of the following year he was elected to the position of Justice of the Peace and has been re-elected suc- cessively since. In 1880 he became a Notary Public. He is also agent for the fire insurance companies known as the German of Freeport, the Agricultural of Boston, the Watertown of New York, and the Mutual Life of New York City; he also deals in real estate. Mr. Kenyon is a member of the Order of Odd Fellows,-subordinate Lodge and Encampment.

He was married Feb. 14, 1850, in New York, to Betsey Lee, and they had four children. David L. is a practicing physician in Worthington, Noble Co., Minn .; John C. is an attorney at Sycamore ; Mary H. married John Janes, a farmer of Dakota; Charles W. is a barber at Sycamore. Their mother died May 7, 1860, and Mr. Kenyon was again married, Feb. 24, 1861, in Kane County, to Clara Walker. The issue of this union was three children. Nettie is a teacher in Mayfield Township. William C. is a

THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

Jour Montgomery

DE KALB COUNTY.

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farmer in Dakota. Morris is a printer in Sycamore. Mr. Kenyon's second wife died in Virgil Township, March 26, 1868, and he contracted a third matri- monial alliance, in Sycamore, Nov. 18, 1868, with Elmira White, a native of Sycamore. They have four children,-Farries F., Nellie, Glenn and Lewis.

Ivor Montgomery, attorney at Sandwich, whose portrait appears on the preceding page, was born March 13, 1847, in the township of Dayton, La Salle County, Ill. John N. Montgomery, his father, was the fourth in the line of descent from the generation to which Gen. Richard Montgomery, the hero of Que. bec, belonged, and to whom he bore the relation of nephew in the third remove, his great-grandfather having been the brother of him who fell in the siege of Quebec.

The lineage runs in this wise : Thomas, brother of General Montgomery, was born in 17:30; in Ireland, and emigrated in 1768 to the northern; part of the State of New York, and during the Revolutionary contest was an officer in the Colonial army. Wil- liam Montgomery, son of Thomas, was born in 1770, in the State of New York, where he died, in 1825. John Harper Montgomery, son of William, was born in New York, in 1793, and in early life removed to the western part of Pennsylvania. He inherited the loyalty of his progenitors, became a soldier of 1812, and participated in that war throughout its entire course. He was a Captain in Kimball's Ohio Militia Volunteers, and was one of 33 refugees from the mas- sacre of the river Raisin. He was a personal friend and counselor of General Harrison. After the war he mar- ried Melinda Platt, in Northeastern Ohio, where her relatives still reside. He located at Dayton, La Salle Co., Ill., in 1847, where he became prominent in local affairs and officiated in several positions of trust and importance. His death occurred in 1864, and his widow survived him seven years. John N. Montgomery, son of the latter, was born May 30, 1825, in Crawford Co., Pa., and married Luceva Ward. "They came in 1846 to La Salle Co., Ill., set- tling at . Dayton, where their only child was born. The mother was born in Crawford Co., Pa., May 30, 1824, and died June 7, 1850. She was the daughter

of William Ward, whose wife was a direct descendant from a French Huguenot family. Their children were Jacob and Abram, Hannah Lewis, Eleanor Tracy, Eliza Phillips, and Polly Goldfinch, of Craw- ford Co., Pa. After the death of his wife, J. N. Montgomery married Amanda Springstead, and they have the following children : Luceva, Florilla, Minnie, William, Lee and Annie E. The entire family reside at or near Iowa Falls, Iowa, whither the parents moved in 1867.

Mr. Montgomery of this sketch was occupied in the duties incumbent on a farmer's son in his native county until he was 16 years of age, and in obtaining his preliminary education. He engaged at that age in teaching in La Salle County, and spent about nine years in that capacity. During the time he filled the position of Deputy School Superintendent of La Salle County four years, meanwhile, also, reading law. He was admitted to the Bar on examination at Ottawa, in October, 1869. On receiving his cre- dentials he opened an office at Leland, in his native county, where he practiced until 1875. In the year last named he located his business at Sandwich, where he has since prosecuted its relations. He is at present in the enjoyment of a popular and exten- sive legal practice in the State and Federal Courts, and is a prominent and competent member of his profession. He has officiated two years as City At- torney of Sandwich, and four years as Justice of the Peace.

Mr. Montgomery is one of the most industrious, thoroughgoing lawyers of De Kalb County, and has attained a position as an attorney second to none in point of reliability. He is a member of the Ma- sonic fraternity and the Order of Odd Fellows.

He was united in marriage, in Northville Town- ship, La Salle Co., Ill., May 21, 1871, to Mary A. Lett. Three children are now members of the household,-Jessie, born March 30, 1872; Florian, Sept. 3, 1877; and Ward, Oct. 24, 1879. Mrs. Montgomery was born in Northville Township, Dec. 1, 1853, and is the daughter of Thomas Lett and Merrilla (Pease) Lett. The family to which Mrs. Montgomery belongs has been made prominent through circumstances which render it essentially the property of the historian. The Lett family were originally Hollanders who went to England with Wil- liam III, whence they emigrated to Wexford, Ire- land. Elizabeth Jacobus, great-grandmother of

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Mrs. Montgomery in the paternal line, was born in Holland. Her father's mother, Elizabeth Warren, was a member of an English family named Warren, and a French family named Pileaux. Elizabeth Warren was II years of age when, in 1798, the Irish Rebellion broke out, and she was imprisoned twice to be burned. She was saved both times by the British soldiery, but her only brother was murdered. In June, 1819, Samuel Lett and his wife, Elizabeth Warren, came from Ireland to Chatham, Montreal District, with their sons Robert, Thomas and Benja- min, and daughters, Elizabeth and Ann. At that time there was but one abode of civilization between the Lett homestead and the North Pole. Samuel Lett died by accident, in September, 1824. The widow and her children removed nine years later to Darlington, Ont. In 1837 the Patriot's Rebellion agitated Canada and convulsed all Britannia. The brothers Thomas and Benjamin Lett were among the rebellious element, the latter being perhaps the most dangerous of all the individuals concerned in the attempt to overthrow the British authority in Canada. He was made the object of a persecution which terminated only when his death had been ac- complished. A price was set on his head and he was tracked by Canadian spies, arrested, tried, con- victed, sentenced and imprisoned, for a crime which, it was proven, had never been committed by any one. He was confined in the State prison at Auburn, N. Y., from 1840 to 1845, when he was pardoned through the certificate of his physician. He was the destroyer of Brock's monument and the instiga- tor of the scheme for the destruction of the locks in Welland Canal, and was the main reliance of the rebels in the accomplishment of any special purpose requiring an unusual degree of courage and daring. His exploits were never forgotten nor forgiven; and although Mckenzie, the chief element in the move- 1 ment was pardoned, Benjamin Lett was considered and dealt with as an outlaw.

The Lett family, with the exception of Benjamin, went from Canada to Texas, in order to put as great a distance as possible between themselves and the scenes of their difficulties. The mother died in Texas and the remaining members of the family came in 1840 to Northville, La Salle Co., Ill., and Benjamin Lett repaired there on being released from

prison, and engaged in agricultural pursuits. In October, 1858, he went to Chicago to aid in the

prosecution of a scheme for trading between the lake ports, and failed to return at the appointed time to his home. Preparations were making for a search for him, when a telegram announced his impending death. The message was withheld until after his death, which took place at Milwaukee Dec. 9, 1858. The post-mortem examination showed that he had been poisoned with strychnine, the result of the per- secutions which pursued him relentlessly for 21 years. Thomas Lett has erected two monuments to his memory in the family burial lot in Northville, La Salle County. The foot-stone is nine feet in height from its base, and the main coluinn is II feet above the pedestal, which is four feet square. They are of marble and are covered with inscriptions commemor- ating the progress of the operations which at last ter- minated in his cowardly murder. The entire affair outstrips the vagaries of romance.

Thomas Lett entered Government land in La Salle County in 1840, and is still its owner. In 1842 he broke the prairie sod of 20 acres where Sandwich now stands, and he is now (1885) a resident of the place. He is a man of superior intellectual attain- ments, and is surpassed by none in his knowledge of ancient and modern history.

illiam Converse Phelps, Assistant Secre- tary of the Sandwich Manufacturing Com- pany, was born June 16, 1849, in Kirkland, Oneida Co., N. Y. His father, Alonzo E. Phelps, was born Jan. 17, 1804, in Caze- novia, N. Y., and married Juliet Bradley, who was born in Cayuga Co., N. Y. Dr. Phelps removed to Sandwich in October, 1869, and after practicing his profession a short time, he retired. He died at Sandwich, Nov. 14, 1882. The mother of Wm. C. died at Sandwich, only a short time subsequent to removal hither, her demise occurring Dec. 25, 1869. They had seven children : Mary B. and Juliet B. were twins. The former is the wife of J. P. Adams, of Sandwich, and the latter married William Barnes, a farmer in Kirkland, Oneida Co., N. Y. Francis B. is a machinist in the employment of the Sandwich manufacturing Company.

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Portrait and biographical album of DeKalb County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 38

Author: Publication date: 1885 Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Bros. Number of Pages: 888

Author:
Publication date: 1885
Publisher: Chicago : Chapman Bros.
Number of Pages: 888