Portrait and biographical album of DeKalb County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 66

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 66

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Mr. Gibbons was born Dec. 22, 1827, in Potsdam, St. Lawrence Co., N. Y. He received a common- school education, and on attaining his majority came to Illinois, where he spent three years in farm labor, obtaining $10 a month as a remuneration for his services. In 1851 he went to Minnesota and passed a winter in the lumber woods, after which he came to the township of Clinton, in De Kalb County, and became by purchase the owner of 120 acres of land.

Jan. 5, 1857, he was married to Emily Warren, by whom he had three children,-Warren H., Oscar S. and Rachel O. The oldest son is married and lives at Stratton Station, Hitchcock Co., Neb. The mother was born in the State of New York, and died in De Kalb County March 13, 1863. In 1864 Mr. Gib- bons married Araminta Willey, a native of Illinois, and they have had seven children: George W. died when he was five years old; Dora, at the age of seven months; Ernest O., Alice B., Mary E., Clara R. and Ray E. are still living.

After a residence of one year in Clinton Township, Mr. Gibbons sold his farm and passed five years

subsequently in the township of Victor, on a rented farm. He then purchased his present homestead of 160 acres, and has since made an addition of 160 acres more. He at first built a small house, 16 by 24 feet in extent, and later, erected .a valuable resi- dence and a fine barn.

Mr. Gibbons is a farmer of the pattern that has made the State of Illinois what it is,-peerless among the Western States earliest settled. Besides the im- provements named, he has planted a fine grove on his farm, has about 300 hickory trees, natural growth, and 800 black-walnut trees which were planted. He has made a specialty of Durham cattle for the past 12 years, and his herd has always included registered stock of acknowledged standard.

Mr. Gibbons is a Republican of a decided type.

illiam H. Ray, editor and publisher of the Shabbona Express and President of the Village Board, residing at Shabbona, was born in Nassau, Germany, Nov. 13, 1843. He is a son of John and Elizabeth (Enders) Ray, natives of Germany, and who emigrated to this country in the spring of 1849. His parents located near Rochester, Monroe Co., N. Y., where they remained until 185 1 and then removed to Little Rock, Kendall County, this State. Two years later they came to Somonauk, this county, and in the spring of 1864 moved to Shabbona.

William H. Ray, subject of this notice, grew to manhood under the parental roof-tree. He received his education in the common schools and at Clark's Seminary, Aurora, spending two years in the last named institution. After leaving the seminary, he engaged in farming, and alternated his labors on the farm by teaching during winter seasons.

In 1871, when the Chicago & Iowa Railroad was completed through Shabbona Township, he was ap- pointed station agent at a station called Cornton. He was also American Express agent at the same place. He held the former position one year and the latter some 14 years, being Express agent at Shab- bona at the present time.

In 1876 he purchased a half interest in the Shab- bona Express and in May, 1878, bought his partner's interest, since which time he has conducted the pub-

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lication of the paper alone. The Express is a five- column quarto with patent inside. It is Republican in politics and is issued weekly. The paper's popu- larity is due to the energy of its editor, who fears not to give to the reading public facts as they transpire. and condemn vice wherever it is found. Fair dealing with all and an earnest and persistent effort to sus- tain the principles which it believes to be right, is constantly increasing the subscription of the paper, and its future will place it the peer of any in the county.

Mr. Ray has held various local offices in the town- ship. He is present Town Clerk and has held the office for 12 years in succession. He -also served as School Director of District No. 3 for 11 years. He has been a Trustee of the village for four years, and is at present serving his second term as Presi- dent of the Village Board.

He was married at Aurora, Dec. 22, 1870, to Miss Emmagene, daughter of Hon. Hiram Loucks, of Sandwich. She was born in Oneida Co., N. Y., Feb. 27, 1850. Her mother's maiden name was Vosburg. Mr. and Mrs. Ray have one child, Lizzie A., born Nov. 13, 1871, at Shabbona.

athew Parks, a retired farmer, resident at Leland, La Salle County, a settler on section 28, Victor Township, in 1856, was born Feb. 25, 1827, in Ireland. His parents, Edward and Sarah (Davidson) Parks, came thence with their family in 1832 to Mont- real, reaching that city at a time when the cholera was raging. After a residence of a year in the Dominion they went to the State of New York.

Mr. Parks came to the State of Illinois in the fall of 1856 and purchased 53 acres of land in the town- ship of Victor. To this he has added by subsequent purchase until he is the owner of a quarter-section. On this he pursued mixed husbandry, with satisfac- tory results, until 1882. In that year he purchased his residence at Leland and relinquished the man- agement of his farm, of which he still retains the ownership. He is a Republican and is justly con- sidered a substantial and reliable citizen. He held the office of Road Commissioner 10 years.

Mrs. Eliza Parks was born Sept. 3, 1826. She is the daughter of John Parks, of Niagara Co., N. Y. Of the four children born to Mr. and Mrs. Parks, three are living,-Nettie M., Lizzie B. and Emma G.

oseph B. Lyons, farmer and stock-grower, section 14, Paw Paw Township, has 206 acres of land. He was born in county Tyrone, Ireland, Nov. 12, 1834, and is the son of Joseph and (Mary) Lyons. He emigrated to America in 1856, and came directly to Illi- nois and made his home in Paw Paw Township. He bought a farm in 1864, on section 23, and occu- pied it in May, 1866.

He remained there until 1884, when he purchased his present farm on section 14, and took possession 'Sept. 9 of that year.

He was married in Sterling, Cayuga .Co., N. Y., March 2, 1866, to Elizabeth McFadden, daughter of Benjamin and Eleanor (Harper) McFadden. Mrs. Lyons was born in Sterling, Cayuga Co., N. Y., Aug. 17, 1841. They had one child, Benjamin, born June 18, 1869, and died aged three months. Mrs. Lyons is a member of the United Presbyterian Church. In politics, Mr. Lyons is a Democrat. Mr. Lyons takes a warm interest in local history, and has by intelli- gent research arrived at a better knowledge of the history of his township than many earlier settlers. The publisher takes pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of valuable information from him.

illiam Lang, farmer, section 28, Malta Township, was born Nov. 27, 1849, in Devonshire, England. William Lang, sen- ior, his father, was a native of the same county and married Mary A. Boiles. Both are now living in the place of their nativity. Mr. Lang is next the youngest in birth of six children, and he remained with his parents until he was 20 years old, receiving as good an education as could be obtained in the public schools of his native land. In 1870 he accompanied neighbors and relatives to America, and the entire party came to the county of De Kalb, where he operated for a time as a farm la-

THE LIBHARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

R. L. Divine

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borer, to which calling he had been bred in England. . He pursued that means of obtaining a livelihood until his marriage, previous to which he purchased 160 acres of land, where he established his home- stead, and the place is now in valuable and credita- ble condition and finely located. His marriage to Mary C. Lang occurred July 28, 1882, at Sycamore. She was born Oct. 3, 1859, in the north of Devon- shire, England, where her parents, Thomas and Ann (Huxtable) Lang, now reside. She was reared at home and educated at Oxford, England, becoming, after finishing her studies, a teacher in the public schools of her native land, and was occupied in that calling eight years. She taught in both the primary and grammar-school grades. In July, 1382, she set out alone for America în order to fulfill a pre-arranged project and respond to an obligation she had entered into to become the wife of William Lang. She joined him in Malta Township, and a week later the pair were united in matrimony, at Sycamore, in the Episcopal Church, in whose cherishing arms she had been reared. The farm house in Malta had been made ready for the advent of a mistress, and the wedded pair at once took possession of their home. One child-Albert C .- has been born to them, who died when six months old. Mr. Lang is a substan- tial and enthusiastic Republican, and is at present a School Director.

R ichard L. Divine (deceased), a former resi- dent of Sycamore, where he was a promi- nent attorney for more than 20 years, was born Sept. 27, 1832, in Fallsburg, Sullivan Co., N. Y., and was the son of James and Mehitable (Hall) Divine. His grandfather, Joseph Divine, who is his earliest ancestor now trace- able, removed with his family from Plattekill, Ulster Co., N. Y., in 1794, to Sullivan County and located in the western part of the township of Fallsburg, the · place where he settled soon afterward taking the nanie of Divine's Corners. At the time of his re- moval there he was the first white settler, his nearest neighbor being four miles distant. His demise oc- curred in 1802. James Divine, born June 14, 1781, in Fallsburg, was his youngest son and was a man of conspicuous ability and became prominent. He

was for many years a Justice of the Peace and was the occupant of other positions of trust and responsi- bility. He spent his entire life on the homestead at Divine's Corners and died there Feb. 1, 1846. The descendants of Joseph Divine still resident in Falls- burg sustain the honorable prestige of the family name and are recorded as prominent and valuable citizens of Sullivan County. The wife of James Divine, known in the records of Sullivan County as " Hetty " Divine, was a member of the denomination of Friends or Quakers, and was a " preacher." She was a woman of decided character and opinions, and so uncompromising a foe to slavery that she sacri- ficed her peace principles in her opposition to the " divine institution." The quality of esteem in which she was held and that of the influence she exerted is manifest from the fact that a spirited controversy · with a male member of the society in which she was the aggressor, is preserved in the history of Sullivan County. She was born Jan. 15, 1789, was married July 16, 1803, when she was 14 years and six months old, and died in the town of Fallsburg, March 14, 1866. She was the daughter of John Hall, one of the first white settlers in the town of Neversink, in Sullivan County. Her mother's maiden · name was Stone, and of her marriage to John Hall five children were born, of whom "Hettie " was the second in order of birth.

One of the most suggestive thoughts arising from examination of the personal records of the closing years of the 18th century and the opening period of the century following, concerns the women of those days; and if it were possible to trace their influence in forming the characters of their sons, there is no question but the development would present a most interesting study.

The ancestral stock of Mr. Divine in the paternal line of descent were Huguenots, and he was the youngest child in order of birth of 10 children-seven sons and three daughters-born to his parents. He was a boy of studious, reflective character, and he acquired a comprehensive knowledge of all the branches taught in common schools. He afterwards attended a select school taught by Henry R. Low at Fallsburg, and spent eight years in teaching in the county where he was born and in the counties ad- joining, and also studied law with George W. Lord, an attorney of prominence at Monticello, Sullivan Co., N. Y. His interest in educational matters was

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recognized in his native county by his election in 1857 to the position of School Commissioner. In the fall of that year he came to Michigan and en- gaged in teaching at Allegan.

In the spring of 1858 he settled at Sycamore and completed his preparation for a professional life in the office of Hon. E. L. Mayo. In the winter of the same year he taught a term of school at Cortland, and in March, 1860, was admitted to practice. He entered into a business association with Judge Mayo and rapidly rose to pre-eminence as a counselor and advocate. He held his position unassailed and was recognized as one of the leaders of the Bar of De Kalb County for many years, and justly ranked and estimated in all the Courts in which he practiced, which included the local tribunals, the Supreme and Apellate Courts of Illinois and of other States, and the United States Courts. His knowledge of law was commensurate with his abilities, his memory, his industry, his powers as a logician, his skill in legal adaptation and his intrepidity in the interests of his clients. Under the pressure of his indomitable energy and ambition to crowd the greatest possible amount of labor into his life, he met his Waterloo, dying a few days before reaching his 50th birthday, at the period when his splendid powers should have been at the zenith.

In social life Mr. Divine was on occasion the rarest of companions ; and in conversation the powers of mind he displayed differed essentially from those he exercised in his professional relations. The field of imagination was, so to speak, his ground of recrea · tion, and he reveled in the beauties of practical and classical literature, his obedient memory storing the pictures of imagery painted in glowing words, which he was in the habit of reproducing under the influ- ence of the social hours in which he endeared him- self to his friends and built an enduring monument to his life and genius.

Mr. Divine was a Republican in his political con- nections. In 1872 he was elected Presidential Elec- tor, and in 1875 was made Mayor of Sycamore. In 1867 he embarked in a private banking enterprise in company with Moses Dean and Daniel Pierce, which relation was in existence until 1871. In the latter year he withdrew and erected a building for banking purposes, and, associated with C. O. Boynton, con- ducted business in that avenue under the firm style of Divine & Boynton. Their relations continued

until the withdrawal of Mr. Boynton, when the firm became Divine & Co., and the business was prose- cuted until the failing health of Mr. Divine conipelled his surrender of active business life.

He died Aug. 22, 1882, of typhoid fever. His marriage to Susan S. Smith occurred Aug. 11, 1862, at Sycamore. Mrs. Divine was born in St. Johns- bury, Vt., and is the daughter of James M. and Martha (Lowell) Smith. The children born of her marriage are all living. They are named Henry, Mary Beatrice, Richard L., Gertrude A., James Jo- seph and Charles A.

The portrait of Mr. Divine on a preceding page is given by the publishers with unusual pleasure, con- fident of its value to his numerous friends, who . cherish a warm remembrance of his genius and abil- ities.

eorge Ashelford, farmer, section 25, South Grove Township, De Kalb County, was born April 12, 1834, in Somersetshire, Eng., and is the son of George and Sarah (Blackmore) Ashelford. The father removed with a part of his family to America in 1858, but soon after returned to his native land, and died in his native shire in 1876, aged about 74 years. The mother is 80 years of age and still re- sides in the shire where she was born.

Mr. Ashelford is the third of six children born to his parents, five of whom are living. Two are in America and are residents of this township and county. He came with his father and one sister to the United States in 1858, and settled at once in Illinois. After his father's return to England, Mr. Ashelford began to work as a farm laborer, working on shares. He operated in that method until he had accumulated sufficient money to buy 80 acres of land, situated on section 36, in the township where he is now a resident. He is now the owner of 320 acres of valuable and well improved land, in loca-, tion and merit second to none in the county. His herds of stock are of excellent grade, and all the belongings of the place afford a fine testimonial to the character and quality of the energy and effort expended upon them. ,

Mr. Ashelford was married Feb. 17, 1863, at Syca-

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more, in the Episcopal Church, to Faith Gathercoal. She was born March 3, 1844, in Cambridgeshire, Eng., of English parentage. Her parents came to the United States when the daughter was a child of nine years, and are now residents of Malta Township. Mr. and Mrs. Ashelford have eight children, all of whom are living but one. They are named George E., Ida M. (Mrs. Lock, of Malta Township), Will- iam H., Albert, Joseph, Frank and Grace M. The family are attendants of the Methodist Episcopal Church, to which the mother belongs.

Mr. Ashelford is a Republican in political persua- sion, and has held various local official positions.

Charles Atherton, farmer, residing on sec- tion 31, Shabbona Township, postoffice Paw Paw, Lee County, was born in Luzerne Co., Pa., Nov. 20, 1832, and is a son of Joseph and Phebe (Vosburg) Atherton.

He was brought up and resided in Pennsylvania until 23 years of age (1855), receiving the advan- tages afforded by the common schools of that State. During the year named he came to this county and settled in Shabbona Township, where, in company with a brother, B. F. Atherton, he engaged in farm- ing and in which vocation he has continued to the present time.

Politically, Mr. Atherton is a Republican. He is a single man, and for a period of 30 years has fol- lowed the occupation in which he is at present en- gaged.

ames Baxter, farmer, section 17, Malta Township, was born about 1819, in Devon- shire, England. John and Elizabeth (Rich- ards) Baxter, his parents, lived all their lives in their native country, the former dying when the son was 13 years of age, about 1832. The latter was a little past his majority when his mother died.

Mr. Baxter was married while yet an inhabitant of his native country, to Mary A. Daracot, the daughter of an English farmer. Eight years later Mr. and

Mrs. Baxter came to America and sought a home in the township of Malta. At that date (1856) the sec- tion was in a comparatively unsettled state, and for a time Mr. Baxter worked as a common laborer. He was industrious and frugal, and was soon in circum- stances to become a land-holder, a privilege he could never enjoy on the "tight little island." He entered a claim of 320 acres of land and put in a crop of wheat in 1857. This was entirely destroyed by thunder-storms in that year; but instead of becoming disheartened he began anew, and has since accom- plished signal success. He is now the proprietor of 540 acres of land, all within the limits of the same section and well improved.

The wife and mother died about 1874, in Chicago. She was 53 years of age. Charles, the first-born child, is deceased; Eskat married Hattie- Griswold and is a farmer on section 20, Malta Township; William is a citizen of the far West; Mary E. mar- ried William Letheby, a farmer in Malta Township; John is a deaf-mute; Emma is the wife of Lant Gris- wold, and they live on the homestead; Mary A. mar- ried John Letheby, who is engaged in farming in Malta. Mr. Baxter is an inflexible Republican. His name was originally Baxtaer, but has become Ameri- canized by custom.

illiam W. McDonald, farmer, section 10, Kingston Towship, is the son of Daniel and Catherine (Penny) McDonald. His. father was a native of Scotland, and his mother was born in Maine. The former died in 1843, in Ohio, aged 73 years; the latter died in 1882, aged 84 years.

Mr. McDonald was born March 17, 1820, in Wash- ington Co., Ohio, and lived there until the fall of 1852, the date of his removal and location in Kings- ton Township, his home since that period, and where he owns 138 acres of partly improved land. His first marriage, to Susan Heckman, took place in Ohio. She died in April, 1855, after becoming the mother of four children,-John, who married Lettie Johnson in Wisconsin, and now resides in Kansas; George, Daniel and Wallace. The latter married Ann Per- cell, a native of Ohio, and resides in De Kalb. George, the second son, was first married to Carrie

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Stowe, a native of Kane Co., Ill. They were the parents of two children, Edna G. and Eddie. After the death of their mother, which occurred March 30, 1881, they were brought to the home of their grand- parents to live. Edna died of scarlet fever April 27, 1884; and Eddie died three days later, from scarlet fever also. Mrs. McDonald, wife of William W., subject of this sketch, died in April, 1855. Mr. Mc- Donald was again married in October, 1856, to Sarah E., daughter of Jacob and Joanna (Blacklidge) Stephens, and they have three children, Susie A., H. Edwin and Lizzie M. Mrs. McDonald was born April 8, 1831, in Morgan Co., Ohio; her mother was born in Pennsylvania in 1807, and her father in Ohio and died in the same State when the daughter was two years old.

. Politically Mr. McDonald is a Republican and has officiated as School Director, and in other minor offices.

ohn P. Newhall, farmer, living in retire- ment at Malta, was born Feb. 20, 1817, at Athol, Mass. His father, William Newhall, is a descendant from the family of that name wlio came to America with Governor Winthrop in 1630, and settled in Lynn, Mass. The mother, Clarissa (Phillips) Newhall, was a descend- ant of a family conspicuous in the early history of the Colonies, and who were afterwards distinguished for wealth and position. William Newhall was a farmer in early life, and afterwards devoted his atten- tion to mechanics. He died June 6, 1858, in New Hampshire, aged 75 years. His mother died in the same State, when she was 83 years of age.

Mr. Newhall was the youngest but one of a family of six children. His brother, Cyrus Newhall, is a noted mechanic and inventor, and has acquired a wide reputation as a manufacturer of lawn and nieadow mowers, and John P. became at 20 years of age an employee in his shops, where he remained until 1856.

Nov. 7, 1841, he was united in marriage in Chester- field, Cheshire Co., N. H., to Emmeline L., daughter of Richard and Emmeline (Lewis) Hopkins. Her father and mother passed their entire lives in their native county and State, and died in the same county in New Hampshire, respectively in April, 1864, and

March, 1877, aged 71 and 81 years. Mrs. Newhall was born July 25, 1819, in Colerain, Mass. She is the second of four children, and was reared under the care of her parents. She is the mother of one child, J. Frank, who is a resident on the homestead estate in Afton Township.

Mr. and Mrs. Newhall came to Illinois in 1856, and after a short residence in the township of De Kalb they located on section 6, Afton Township, where Mr. Newhall purchased 50 acres of farming land. In 1877 they retired from active life to the village of Malta, where they are residing in quiet comfort after busy and honorable lives of useful effort.

oseph B. Stephens, State's Attorney, resi- dent at Sycamore, is a native of De Kalb County, and was born Aug; 25, 1849, in Genoa. His father, Samuel Stephens, was born in Pennsylvania and removed early from the Key-Stone State to Indiana, where he resi- ded a number of years. In the fall of 1836, while yet unmarried, he came to the township of Genoa and pre-empted a large tract of land. He is a resi- dent of Genoa, and nearly one-half of the village is built on his original homestead. About 30 acres was first platted and portions of the town are known "as "Stephens' First and Second Additions." The senior Stephens married Rebecca Patterson for his first wife, and she died before her son was two years old. The father was afterward married to Philena Crocker.

Mr. Stephens is the only child of the first mar- riage, and was brought up on his father's farm. At 14, he was placed at the seminary at Woodstock, where he was a pupil a year, and was sent thence to the Warren Institute. He studied there two years and went next to De Kalb, where he remained about the same time. After leaving school he worked on the farm summers and taught school winters until 1877. In April of that year he entered the law office of Kellum & Carnes, of Sycamore, and studied law under the supervision of the former two years. April 19, 1879, he was admitted to the Bar, and in October of the same year he opened a law office at De Kalb and conducted a legal business there until February, 1881, when he came to Sycamore.

Hi Kirkpatrick

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He was elected State's Attorney for De Kalb County in the fall of 1880, and was re-elected in November, 1884. While a resident of Genoa he served four years as Township Clerk, and discharged the duties of other minor local official positions. He is at present (1885) an Alderman at Sycamore.

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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 66

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

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