Portrait and biographical album of DeKalb County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 61

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 61

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eorge Henry Read, deceased, a former resident of Sycamore, and whose portrait we present on the opposite page, was born April 12, 1826, in the province of New Bruns- wick. His paternal grandparents were natives of Massachusetts and went to the provinces about the date of the Revolutionary War.

The subject of this sketch was only 12 years of age when his parents came to Kane Co., Ill., and located in the township of Virgil, where he was reared on the farm and attended the public schools. In 1852 he went with his brother to Australia, where he spent three years in the gold mines. On his re- turn from there he settled in Kane County, where he was married, in July, 1856, to Adeline, daughter of Samuel and Susan (Bannister) Worcester. Her father was born six miles from Boston, Mass., and accompanied his parents to Vermont when he was six years of age. He married a lady of Vermont birth, who descended from ancestors of Massachusetts origin. Mrs. Read was born Aug. 4, 1832, in West Windsor, Vt. When she was nine years of age-in 1841-her parents removed to Illinois and became pioneers of Virgil Township, Kane County. They journeyed hither by stage from Windsor to Troy, thence by the Erie Canal to Buffalo, taking steamer passage from that city to Chicago, whence they were brought by a team to Lily Lake. Her father bought a claim, where he built a house and resided nine years, when he sold out and bought a second farm one and a half miles distant from the first. On this he resided until his death in 1860. Her mother died in January, 1882.

Soon after marriage Mr. Read settled near Maple Park, Kane County, where he owned a tract of land containing 300 acres. On this he built a frame house and other necessary and suitable farm structures. In 1865 he bought a similar acreage situated four miles from the first and containing a good equipment

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of buildings. He removed his family thither and it formed his field of operations until December, 1874. At that date he disposed of the estate by sale, bought four acres of city property at Sycamore, with a resi- dence, and moved there. In 1876 he bought a farm on section 34, Sycamore Township, where he resided until his death, April 18, 1883.

In 1870 Mr. Read purchased a considerable tract of land in Hardin Co., Iowa, and in 1882 he bought 300 acres of wild land in Cherokee Co., Iowa, where he erected necessary farm buildings. To these he gave considerable personal attention, but never became a resident of the State.

Mr. Read was a man of excellent traits of charac- ter, and possessed qualities which received for him general esteem and respect. His leading character- istic was a spirit of boundless charity, and he was frequently mentioned as a philanthropist.

Mrs. Read occupies the homestead at Sycamore. She wrote the following lines on the death of her husband :

He came in youthful vigor And wooed me for his bride; How glad was I to welcome And go with him in pride!

And now I see the shadow Of Death's wing o'er him fall;

I list the knell's sad peeling; O'er him is spread the pall.

My stricken heart is bleeding; My eyes with tears are dim; My life is dark with anguish; Earth's joys have flown with him.

'The neighbor and the stranger Gaze on with troubled sighs. Alas! they mourn the fiat That caused the sacrifice.

But all fades into nothing Beside a wife's deep woe, And the helpless grief of sisters, And that his brothers know. - But calm the heart's wild tumult Subdue the murmuring will- In meekness bear the chastening And bid the tempest still.

ohn Dixon, farmer, section 7; Squaw Grove Township, was born in Canada, Nov. 29, 1820, and was a farmer in the Dominion until the spring of 1865. He then came to De Kalb County and located in the township of Clinton. In the spring of 1874 he removed to Squaw Grove Township, and, associated with his

sons, William and John, bought 305 acres, on which the homestead was established. He is an adherent to and supporter of the Republican party.

The first marriage of Mr. Dixon occurred in Can- ada, when Louisa Perry, a native of the Dominion, became his wife. After becoming the mother of seven children, she died, in Clinton Township, May 12, 1873. Her children were named Robert, Sarah, John, William, Mand, Ida and Cyrus L. The sec- ond marriage of Mr. Dixon, to ›Rebecca Owen, took place at Sandwich, Dec. 10, 1874. She was born March 5, 1835, in Perry Co., Pa.

rnest S. Chambers, farmer, residing on the southeast quarter of section 26, Afton Township, was born in Plano, Kendall Co., Ill., April 7, 1859. He is a son of Moses and Sarah (Tyler) Chambers. His father was born in Wayne Co., Pa., Aug. 26, 1821, and resides with his son on section 26. His mother was born in Tompkins Co., N. Y., April 8, 1821, and died on the home farm in Afton Township, March 16, 1880.

Ernest S. Chambers, subject of this notice, came to this county with his parents when but six weeks old and has resided here ever since. His education was received in the common schools, and the major portion of his years previous to majority were passed on a farm. He has one brother and two sisters living, namely : Leuverna, born Aug. 29, 1848, mar- ried Henry Richmond and resides at De Kalb; Ade- lia, born Jan. 2, 1850; and Fred S., born July 22, 1864, at present living in Iowa and working at his trade, that of a carpenter.

Mr. Chambers was united in marriage to Miss Phena S., daughter of Lansing E. and Lurena De Forest, Dec. 20, 1882. Her father was born in Southville, Herkimer Co., N. Y., May 10, 1832, and her mother in "German Flats," Herkimer Co., N. Y., Dec. 31, 1831. Both are living in this county. Her father is a carpenter and worked at his trade after coming to this county. He has a farm which he rents, and he lives in the village of De Kalb. He and his wife were the parents of seven children, namely :. Ella M., born Oct. 24, 1852, in Oneida Co., N. Y .; Elizabeth A., born Dec. 25, 1855, in Oneida County,; Eugene A., born Feb. 17, 1854; Invena B.,

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born in 1857, and died July 9, 1866 ; Phena S., born Oct. 18, 1861 ; Carrie M., born Jan. 1, 1864, and Lettie E., born July 3, 1870.

Politically, Mr. Chambers is a Republican. He has followed the vocation of a farmer all his life, and is a truly representative and practical gentleman.

aul H. Nichols, farmer and tile manufac- turer, resident on section 22, Squaw Grove Township, is the son of Cyrus C. and Al- mira (Avery) Nichols. The former was born in Vermont, the latter in New York, and after their marriage they were resident in the former State five years, subsequently removing to the State of New York. In 1845 they removed to Kane Co., Ill. In 1859 they located in Squaw Grove Town- ship, where the father died, July 31, 1872. The mother is yet living. Mr. Nichols had three sisters, all older,-Fanny A., Rhoda D. and Sally H.

He was born July 12, 1834, in Chenango Co., N. Y., where he attended the public schools. He ac- companied his parents in their various removals, and, since November, 1859, has been a resident of the township of Squaw Grove. He is the owner of 400 acres of land, and is ranked among the leading farmers and business men of his township. In 1879 he embarked in the manufacture of drain tile, in which he is prosecuting relations of rapidly extend- ing popularity. The clay bed which had been pre- viously utilized in the manufacture of brick to some extent, proved on more extended investigation to be of the most superior character known in the business, a fact entirely unsuspected by Mr. Nichols at the commencement of the venture. It is classed as " timber" clay, which exceeds all other varieties in tenacity or strength, obviously a most desirable qual- ity. The annual product ranges from 350,000 to 950,000 feet, and it is mostly absorbed by local pa- tronage, only a small proportion being shipped to a distance. During the season the working force numbers at times 16 men. Mr. Nichols has several diplomas from local fairs attesting the comparative value of the tile. The manufacturing is under the management of Charles Pratt, and the value of the output is materially increased by the skill exercised in manipulating the material and in the completing

process, the foreman being a practical and experi- enced craftsman, having been bred to the business in which he is engaged.

Mr. Nichols built his factory in the winter of 1878-9, and had but opened preparatory operations when, May 10, the building was destroyed by fire, between five and six o'clock in the morning, with no insurance save in the hearts of his neighbors, who, before nightfall of the day of disaster, had purchased in Chicago the material required for building another of similar pattern. The new establishment was ready to be occupied July 6, following. Mr. Nichols made the first successful application of drying clay by means of steam pipes, a method now in general use.

Politically, Mr. Nichols is an endorser and sup- porter of the issues and principles of the Republican party. He has been Treasurer of his township a little less than 17 years. He has also been Town- ship Clerk one year.

He was married Feb. 3, 1858, in Sugar Grove Township, Kane Co., Ill., to Sarah J. Skiff, and of their five children four survive: Edwin C., Obed C., Fanny E. and Jesse J. May died when she was a little child. Mrs. Nichols was born Feb. 27, 1833, in Warren Co., N. Y., and is the daughter of Obed and Azubah (Judd) Skiff. Her parents were born in Massachusetts.

homas Harper, Sr., was a pioneer of Paw Paw Township of 1842. He is now a res- ident of Wichita, Kan. He was born in Ireland in 1811, and is the son of James and Elizabeth (Black) Harper, and emigrated from Ireland to America with his parents in infancy in 1812. The family located in Washington Co., N. Y., and moved from there to Sterling, Cayuga County, in 1819.

He emigrated to Peoria, Ill., about 1840, and from there to Paw Paw Township, De Kalb County, in 1842. He entered Government land in that town on sections 13 and 14, and was engaged in farming and stock-growing till 1877, when he removed to Shabbona Station. In 1880 he removed to Wichita, Kan., his present home.

He was twice married, first to Sarah Hart, by

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whom he had one child, a son, Norman, now a resi- dent of Kansas. His second wife was Mrs. Hattie Becker. There were no children of the second mar- riage.

Mr. Harper was a member of the United Presby- terian Church of Ross Grove, was a liberal supporter of the Church and aided largely in the construction of their house of worship. In politics he was a Re- publican.

homas Thomason, farmer, section 30, Clin- ton Township, is a son of Osmon and Bertha (Sawyer) Thomason, natives of Nor- way. He was born in that country, March 25, 1825, the third in order of birth in a family of five children, and was about 12 years of age when he came with his parents to America. He fol- lowed farming in La Salle County, this State, until the spring of - 1880, when he came and bought the Reuben Pritchard farm, of 180 acres, which he now owns and cultivates. Coming from a nation noted for industry, economy and honesty, and characterized by the same traits, Mr. T. succeeds well in this land of plenty. Politically, he is a Republican, and locally he has been entrusted with the office of School Director.

He was married in La Salle County, July 19, 185 1, to Tabitha Aget, a native also of Norway. Mr. and Mrs. Thomason have had 12 children, named Sarah A., Francis M., Thomas H., Emily J., Emery J., Martha M., Eunice E., Lottie N., Addie R. and Ella J., and two who died in infancy.

illiam J. Bushnell, farmer, section 36, Squaw Grove Township, was born April 4, 1828, in Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., and is the son of Amasa and Mila (Frary) Bush- nell. His parents were natives of the State of New York, and came to Kendall Co., Ill., in 1855. The father died there Sept. 20,1855. The mother died Jan. 9, 1876, in De Kalb County. They had three children-William J., Elmer and Marcus S.

Mr. Bushnell came to Illinois with his parents, and was then 27 years of age. He lived in Kendall

County until 1872, and in the spring of that year took possession of the farm where he is now a resi- dent, in Squaw Grove Township. He owns 120 acres of land, all of which is in a fine state of culti- vation and constitutes a valuable farm.

Mr. Bushnell was first married Dec. 17, 1863, in Aurora, Kane Co., Ill., to Adaline Hubbell, who was born in Kendall Co., Ill. Jennie, only child of this marriage, died when she was one year old. The mother died April 28, 1870, in Kendall County. Mr. Bushnell was a second time married Feb. 2, 1872, in Cattaraugus Co., N. Y., to Mrs. Maria (Rhoades) Hoard. She is the daughter of Asahel and Permelia (Fair) Rhoades, and was the widow of Nathaniel Hoard. The latter was a soldier in the Ninth N. Y. Cav. and was killed near Fairfax Court-House, Va. Cora A., only issue of that marriage, is the wife of Charles Foster, of Plano. Frank J. is the name of the only child of Mr. and Mrs. Bushnell. The latter was born Dec. 18, 1835, in Genesee Co., N. Y.

-In political sentiment Mr. Bushnell affiliates with the Republican party.

Bathew G. Shackelton, dealer in drugs and groceries at Shabbona, was born in Northampton Co., Pa., Nov. 28, 1838, and is the son of Samuel and Catharine (Darling) Shackelton. He received a common-school education. When 14 years of age he left his native place and came to Illinois with his parents, the family settling in Clinton Township, this county, in the fall of 1851.

Young Shackelton was brought up on a farm. In 1861 he went to Durand, Pepin Co., Wis., where he spent about two years as clerk in a drug and grocery store. He was next engaged in the hard- ware business till 1864. He then returned to Clin- ton and went from there to Chicago, where he spent the winter of 1865-6. During the following spring he went to Cairo, Ill., where he spent a few months, and returned to De Kalb County, where he was en- gaged in farming till the fall of 1875. He then went to De Kalb city and engaged in the grocery, res- taurant and bakery business. He was doing well till he was burned out, June 29, 1876, by which he lost about $3,000. He then bought an interest in a hotel

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at De Kalb, which he operated two years. He was next engaged in farming in Afton Township. In the spring of 1880 he erected a building in Shabbona and opened a restaurant. He sold out to Mr. Lucas and spent some time in traveling in Iowa. He next bought a stock of general merchandise at Hinckley, Ill., and carried on business there one year. He sold out, went to Kansas, and from there to Missouri. Returning to Shabbona, he bought back his old stand, which he operated till March 1, 1883, when he sold out to Mr. E. M. Card, and opened at his pres- ent stand, in the drug and grocery business. He carries an average stock of $3,000.

He was married in De Kalb, Dec. 31, 1868, to Miss Annie Goodrich, daugher of Erastus and Annie (Taylor) Goodrich. Mrs. Shackelton was born in Oswego, N. Y., Oct. 30, 1851. They have one child, a daughter, named Kittie, born Sept. 2, 1872.

In politics Mr. Shackelton is a Democrat.

giram Ellwood, Secretary and General Man- ager of the Superior Barbed-Wire Company, resident at De Kalb, is one of the Ellwood Brothers, whose names are prominent in the history of De Kalb County. The portrait of the gentleman who forms the subject of this sketch appears on the page opposite, and is a valua- ble addition to the gallery of portraits given in this volume.

Mr. Ellwood was born in Montgomery County, N. Y., in the town of Canajoharie, on the 19th day of September, 1828. He is the son of Abraham and Sarah (Delong) Ellwood. (See sketch of Hon. C. Ellwood for further mention of parents.) When he was about ten years of age his father became a con- tractor on the Erie Canal, entering into an agreement to build a mile of that water course lying within the town of Minden, Montgomery County. The contract- or boarded the men whom he employed, and every member of the family who was still under the par- ental authority contributed their share of assistance in the scheme. Girls in the Ellwood household were not numerous enough or large enough to afford the necessary amount of assistance that is generally supposed per se to fall to the feminine lot, and the boys who were plenty and available were pressed

into domestic duty. Hiram was one of the most useful adjuncts of the household and did valiant service in the intervals of school, his principal busi- ness at home being washing dishes, and, like Billy Gray, the Boston millionaire, who was wont to boast of the quality of his work when he sawed wood for his living, chiefly remembers that he did it well, and moreover is not ashamed of it. Later, Abraham Ell- wood went with his family to Ilion, in Herkimer County, N. Y. Hiram engaged as a salesman in the employ of a Mr. Dygert in the city of Utica. He was then about 15 years of age, and remained in that employment about two years. Subsequently he was employed by a Mr. Folts as a clerk in a dry- goods and grocery store, where he continued three years. He had saved his earnings, and, being desir- ous of embarking independently in business, he purchased a half interest in a canal boat, which he sold after one season. He returned to the mercan- tile establishment where last employed and resumed the ocupation of a clerk.

His next business venture was in an enterprise in company with William Frank in raising broom-corn and manufacturing brooms, carrying on their opera- tions on the " Flats " in the town of Mohawk, adja- cent to the river of the same name.

Mr. Ellwood made his home with the household of his associate in business, and the family circle was increased by the addition of a young lady, a cousin of Mrs. Frank-Miss Sarah Dygert by name. The young people were mutually attracted from the first. Their first meeting occurred between 30 and 40 years ago, and their first favorable opinions strength- ened into appreciative friendship and soon into sub- stantial affection which resulted in their marriage in March, 1850. No finer touch of manliness appears on these pages than the tribute paid by Mr. Ellwood more than 35 years afterward to the strength of the sentiment which held him in indissoluble bonds. " I thought her the handsomest and most lady-like girl I' had ever seen, and I still think so." The marriage took place at Fort Plain, N. Y., and to the wedded pair one child was born-Alice-who was married in the spring of 1871 to D. D. Brown, of Sycamore.

Chauncey Ellwood, the oldest brother of Hiram Ellwood, was a widower, and in 1852 the latter and his wife entered the employ of the former-the wife

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as general housekeeper, the husband as assistant in a grocery and provision store at a point on the Erie Canal in Frankfort, Herkimer County. There was no business save during the season of navigation, and the intervening seasons were spent in methods that combined much amusement and little exertion, as there was literally nothing to do. The relation between the brothers was in existence two years. At the end of that time the elder was appointed to the position of Superintendent of a section of the canal, and the traffic of the store passed into the hands of Messrs. J. E. and Hiram Ellwood. They conducted their affairs jointly one year, when the former sold his interest to the latter and it continued under his management two years.

In the spring of 1856 Hiram Ellwood sold out and came West. On the ninth day of August in that year, the mercantile firm of Ellwood & De- long opened business at De Kalb, then a village with little promise of the prosperity and development of to-day, and they continued the sale of drugs and groceries until 1866, when the junior member of the firm withdrew and Mr. Ellwood conducted the busi- ness until 1877 in his own name. He then sold out to J. H. Lewis, who still continues its successful prosecution. Meanwhile the business of I. L. Ell- wood & Co. had assumed mammoth proportions and Mr. Ellwood went to Kansas City, Mo., in the interests of that firm and operated as Western agent, shipping barbed wire West and South from Kansas City. He returned to De Kalb at the expi- ration of three years. In August, 1881, the Superior Barbed-Wire Company of De Kalb went into opera- tion. The charter members included I. L. Ellwood, J. F. Glidden, J. D. Lott, Reuben Ellwood and Hiram Ellwood, and the latter was elected Treas- urer, Secretary and General Manager, and still holds the same position.

Mr. Ellwood, in addition to his business relations with De Kalb city and county, has discharged the duties and responsibilities of several official posi- tions. In 1857 and 1858 he was elected Supervisor of the township of De Kalb and has served three terms as member of the Board of Trustees of the village before its corporation as a city. He has served a term as School Director, officiating as Clerk of the Board. He acted two years as Deputy Post- master under I. V. Randall, and on the · resignation of his chief, two years after, he was appointed Post-

master and served four years. During the years 1859, '60, '61, '62, he officiated as Treasurer of De Kalb County and executed all the trusts which fell to him in his duties in a characteristic way, one of which was the signing of the soldiers' orders. With A. K. Stiles, County Clerk, he was appointed by the Board of County Supervisors to act as County Agent in the sale of the county bonds, which labor was accomplished and resulted in the payment of the claims of the soldiers of the 105th Regiment Ill. Vol. Inf., the soldiers receiving one-half cash and one- half the amount due them in county orders.

. Mr. Ellwood located at De Kalb nearly 30 years ago, when it was a village. He has watched its de- velopment and the increase of its business resources with much gratification. At the date he made the acquaintance of the place its population was about 500, and it is now six times as great, and is second in business to no town of its capacity between Chi- cago and the Mississippi. The interest of Mr. Ell- wood in his adopted home and his identification with its general welfare will expire only with his life. One notable event, which has heretofore failed to receive deserved notice in the sketches, of the Ellwood brothers, and which should find place, is the last act of filial affection performed by them in connection with the death and burial of their venerable mother. It was her dying request that " her boys " should act as her pall-bearers, which they did, the six bearing .her remains to their last resting place in Elmwood Cemetery.

A sahel Firkins, deceased, was an early pioneer of Paw Paw Township. He was born near Oswego, N. Y., in 1819, and was the son of George and Lydia (Chappel) Fir- kins, of English descent. He emigrated to Illinois in 1838 and made his home in Hender- son, Knox County, where he was married, Jan. 10, 1841, to Miss Harriet Miller, daughter of James and Hannah (Preston) Miller. Mrs. Firkins was born in Monroe Co., Mich., Jan. 25, 1823, and came to Illinois in 1838. Seven children were born to them, three boys and four girls : Mariette, born Dec. 25, 1841, wife of George D. Heldebrant, of Kansas ; William, born Jan. 7, 1844, married Laura Haskell and lives in Paw

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Paw; John, born Jan. 26, 1846, died in infancy ; Harriet A., born May 19, 1837, wife of William Rust, of East Paw Paw; Emma F., born July 22, 1849, was killed by the cars while in a carriage crossing the track near Malden, Ill., Feb. 5, 1874; Josephine, born Sept. 21, 1851, wife of Seneca Duncan, of Kan- sas; George A., born Jan. 16, 1854, single, at home.

Mr. Firkins made his home in Knox County till 1842, when he removed to Warren Co., Ill .; spent three years in that county, and in March, 1845, re- moved to Paw Paw Township, De Kalb County, and entered land on section 7. He had 204 acres. He made his home in this township, and was engaged in farming till his death, which occurred June 17, 1856.

He was a Methodist from early life, and a Class- leader many years. In politics he was an avowed Abolitionist.

dmond Towne, the first white settler of Shabbona Township, and now deceased, was a native of Waterbury, Vt., became a brick-maker by trade, moved to Ohio, where he resided several years, and returned to his native State. He married Mrs. Sally Smith, widow of James Smith and daughter of David Straw. He then returned to Marion Co., Ohio, where he engaged in brick-making until 1834, when he came to this State and settled in what was afterward surveyed as Shab- bona Township, De Kalb County. He subsequently ·removed to Marble Rock, Iowa, selling out here to Frank Frost. He died in the fall of 1881. Before his removal to Iowa his wife died, in Shabbona, and none of their family are now left in this county. Their children were Mary J., Electa, Cynthia, Sarah, Ralph, Chester, Russell and Daniel.

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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 61

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

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