Portrait and biographical album of DeKalb County, Illinois : containing full-page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county, Part 71

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 71

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Mr. Corey is the youngest of their four children, all of whom are living, as follows: Lydia I. is the old- est child; Julius lives at Rockford, Ill .; Olive R. married J. E. Mecum, and resides at Dalton, Mass. Mr. Corey lived with his parents until he was 18 years of age, attending school, and two years later his father died. After that event he engaged for a short time as a clerk in Columbia County, coming when he was 21 years of age to Rockford, Ill., where his brother had located some years before. He pur- chased an interest in a carpenter's shop and set him- self about learning the use of tools. After pursuing the business a few years he came to South Grove Township and purchased 80 acres of land. It was chiefly in its original unbroken condition, and he operated on the place four years, making necessary improvements, and converting it into a good farm.

In 1867 he sold the place and purchased the farm on which he has since operated in Malta Township, with satisfactory results. He owns 160 acres, and is

considered a skillful and practical farmer. He makes a specialty of Durham cattle and Poland-China swine. Mr. Corey, is a Republican.

He was first united in marriage, Sept. 9, 1862, at Rockford, to Jennie O. Dwight. She was born near Springfield, Mass., and came West after reaching womanhood. Her death transpired April 9, 1871, after she became the mother of four children : Lura, the oldest, was born July 21, 1864, and mar- ried George Kempson, a farmer in Malta Township. Mary D. was born Oct. 24, 1865; Ellie died when five months old. Henry D. was born Nov. 12, 1871, and died Feb. 12, 1882. Mr. Corey was again mar- ried March 10, 1876, in De Kalb, to Irene A., daugh- ter of Solomon and Nancy (Goodell) Hollister. The former was born in New York, the latter in Connecti- cut. They were among the early settlers in the township and county of De Kalb, and the father is now deceased. His widow resides with a son in Da- kota. Mrs. Corey was born Feb. 7, 1849, in De Kalb, and was less than two years old when she lost her father. She lived after that with her mother, at- tending school at De Kalb until she was 19 years of age, when she commenced teaching, in which she was engaged until her marriage. Two children are now included in the home circle: Jennie, born March 21, 1877, and Dan E., Nov. 20, 1883. Mrs. Corey belongs to the Baptist Church.

kenry L. Rand, resident on section 31, South Grove Township, has lived in De Kalb County from his boyhood. He was born Jan. 7, 1832, in Genesee Co., N. Y., and is the son of Aaron and Permelia (Ainsworth) Rand, who were natives respectively of Massachusetts and New York. The former was a farmer during · his active business life, and came to Illinois in 1839, settling in St. Clair County, where the mother died in 1840 .. The father is now 95 years of age, and re- sides alternately in the counties of Green and Jasper, Iowa, with a son and daughter. He was a soldier of the War of 1812 and is the recipient of a pension.

Mr. Rand was a member of his father's household until he was 26 years of age. He acquired a thor- ough knowledge of the vocation of his father, and also secured a good district-school education. In

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1858 he made a purchase of 80 acres of land with a view to settling in independent life. The land was in its original prairie condition, and he entered ener- getically into the work of improvement and cultiva- tion. On this he resided until 1879, when he sold and bought a similar acreage on the same section, where he established a permanent home.

The marriage of Mr. Rand to Laura A. Pritchard took place Nov. 20, 1857, in Franklin Township. Mrs. Rand was born July 9, 1833, in Plattsburg, State of New York, and is the daughter of Henry and Mary (Blackmer) Pritchard. Her parents were both of English descent, and were born respectively in Vermont and New York. Late in life they left their native States and settled in De Kalb County, where the former died, in April, 1875. The mother is 81 years of age (1885). Mrs. Rand pre- ceded her parents in her removal to Illinois and be- came a member of the household of her aunt, Mrs. Roxana Moon, of South Grove Township, with whom she lived until her marriage. One of four children born of that event is deceased. Herbert B. is mar- ried and engaged in farniing in South Grove Town- ship. Herman H. and Amie A. are unmarried. Mr. and Mrs. Rand are members of the Methodist Epis- copal Church.

harles Newsham, farmer, section 24, Mal- ta Township, was born Nov. 2, 1835, in Pittsburg, Pa. Charles Newsham, senior, removed his family in 1838 to a farm in Erie County in the same State. The latter married Mary Ward, a native of the city of London, England. The father was born and bred in York- shire, England, and their marriage took place after . their removal to the United States, and they resided in Erie County, Pa. The mother died in November, 1882, and the father has since married Mrs. Betsey (Henton) Brace. He is 77 years of age.

Mr. Newsham is the oldest of nine children, seven of whom yet survive. He was bred to the occupation of a farmer on his father's homestead in Pennsylvania, and he acquired a fair common-school education. He was married Oct. 6, 1856, in Erie Co., Pa., to Sarah Barton. She was born Oct. 3, 1838, in Trenton, Onei- ida, Co., N. Y., and is a daughter of Thomas P. and

Rhoda (Calkins) Barton. In 1848 Mrs. Newsham re- moved with her parents to Erie Co., Pa., where both died after long and useful lives. Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Newsham-May, Nellie, George H., Jennie V. and Kittie D.

After their marriage Mr. and Mrs. Newsham set out for the West to seek to build up a home and for- tune, and they first fixed their residence at Broad- head, Greene Co., Wis., where they engaged in farm- ing, operating as renters. In the winter of 1864 Mr. Newsham went to the oil regions of the Keystone State, where he was occupied two years, and during two years subsequent he resided in Erie County, in the vicinity of his father's homestead. The family came to Illinois in the summer of 1867 and settled in Milan Township, De Kalb County, where they continued six years, and at the end of that time re- turned to Pennsylvania for a year's stay at Erie City, after which they settled permanently in Malta Town- ship. Mr. Newsham is conducting the farm interests of Mrs. Thomas Holderness. In political connection he is a Republican.

& apt. A. Levi Wells, dealer in lumber, building material, stone, coal, etc., at Shabbona, established his present business June 1, 1880, as successor to Wm. Deacon. He was born in Charlotte, Chautauqua Co., N. Y., Sept. 16, 1836, the son of Royal and Betsey (Larkin) Wells, and received a common-school edu- cation. He engaged in clerking until 1857, when he came to Albany, Whiteside Co., Ill., and one year afterward removed to Kaneville, Kane Co., Ill., con- tinuing in the same business.

He enlisted in the cause of the Government Sept. 18, 1861, in the Eighth Ill. Vol. Cav., Co. I, and on its organization was appointed Corporal. In Decem- ber following he was elected First Sergeant, served as such till Sept. 1, 1862, when he was commissioned First Lieutenant, and April 3, 1863, was commissioned Captain of Co. I, above referred to, his commission to date back to Aug. 29, 1862. In this capacity he served till Sept. 27, 1864. He was wounded at the battle of Falling Waters, July 14, 1863, by a gunshot in the left breast, the ball passing around to the shoulder blade and thence outward. Capt. Wells was in 85 different engagements in all, in-

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cluding all those in which the Army of the Potomac participated up to December, 1864.

After his return from the war, in the spring of 1866, he settled in the town of Milan, De Kalb County, and engaged in farming. Continuing in that busi- ness until March 1878, he removed to Shabbona vil- lage, formed a partnership with S. G. Gilbert in the grocery trade, and followed that business until June, 1880, when he entered upon his present business, in which he is prospering.

He was Supervisor of Milan Township four years, Township School Treasurer eight years. In his views of national policy he is a Republican.

Mr. Wells was married at Kaneville, Ill., Sept. 7, 1863, to Miss Nancy C. Fink, daughter of J. A. and Nancy B. (Norris) Fink. She is a native of Onondaga Co., N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Wells have five children, namely, Rille M., Jessie M., Clarence N., Marion H. and Lizzie.

The publishers of this ALBUM take pleasure in presenting to the public a fine lithographic portrait of the subject of the foregoing brief biographical sketch, upon a page in proximity.

harles Whitney, one of the inventors and manufacturers of the Marsh-Whitney Platform Binders, resident at Sycamore, was born Jan. 30, 1834, in Almond, Alle- gany Co., N. Y., and is the son of David and Margaret (Karr) Whitney. The former was born March 4, 1796, in Chittenden Co., Vt., was a farmer by vocation and became a resident of Alle- gany Co., N. Y., in 1814. He married and contin- ued a resident of that county until his removal in the fall of 1836 to Ohio. He went later to Roches- ter, Minn., and eventually to Carthage, Jasper Co., Mo., where he died, in the fall of 1876. The mother is a native of the Mohawk Valley in the Empire State, and was born in the year 1800. She is still living, in Allegany County. They had eight chil- dren, five of whom are deceased: Matilda is the wife of H. O. Nearing, a farmer of Delta, Ohio. Car- oline is the widow of Oscar Snyder, formerly a farmer of Massillon, Ohio.

Mr. Whitney was brought up on his father's farm until he was r8, when he went to California, then in

the height of its notoriety as the Golden State, and offering a. wonderful field of successful operation to such as sought its opportunities in cool, well balanced judgment, instead of being impelled by the spirit of adventure which so frequently gives a false impetus toward unexplored and undeveloped regions. Mr. Whitney made his way to the El Dorado of the Pacific coast under the guidance of the former im- pulse, and operated in the gold fields nearly three years, meeting with a reasonable degree of success. Early in 1855 he returned to the Buckeye State, and was married on the 25th of March of the same year, at Waterville, Lucas County, to Orilla Paine. Soon after that event Mr. and Mrs. Whitney located at Rochester, Minn., where three sons were born to them: George was born March 25, 1856. Fred was born Oct. 7, 1857, and died July 5, 1881, at Sycamore. Frank was born April 7, 1860. Mrs. Whitney was born May 20, 1834, in Huron Co., Ohio, and is the daughter of Henry A. and Esther (Middleton) Paine.

On his removal to Minnesota, Mr. Whitney pre- empted a claim of 160 acres of prairie, and not long afterward, associated with Z. J. Cowles, he engaged in the manufacture and sale of furniture, in which he continued to operate until 1869. Mr. Whitney pos- sesses keen powers of observation, and a mental organism of a reflective character, coupled with in- ventive genius of a practical type ; and the feasibility of all kinds of agricultural machinery in prairie farm- ing was with him a foregone conclusion from the beginning of enterprise in that direction. In 1869 he sold his interest in the traffic in which he had been engaged for 14 years, and, in company with his brother John, gave scope to the bent of his inventive proclivities in manufacturing and experimenting with platform binders. They pursued their operations in Minnesota until 1871, with varying success, and in that year went to St. Louis, Mo., and continued their business in that line several years, their joint opera- tions being terminated in the spring of 1876 by the death of John Whitney.

Charles Whitney came to Sycamore in 1877, and became interested in perfecting and manufacturing the Marsh-Whitney platform binder. The machine in its completeness was first put into market in 1882, and was received with all the favor it merited. Its popularity grew and sales multiplied in proportion

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until June, 1884, when the manufacturers were com- pelled to suspend operations by the collapse of other business houses of heavy capital with which they were connected.

Mr. Whitney has patented several principles con- nected with his inventions, which he is engaged in introducing to manufacturers, who are recognizing the merits, and becoming interested in the con- struction, of the machines.

eorge Chapel, farmer and stock-raiser, sec- tion 22, Malta Township, was born in Washington Township, Berkshire Co., Mass., Oct. 6, 1829. Joseph Chapel, his fa- ther, was a native of the same township and a farmer by occupation, and his father, Jona- than Chapel, was born in Connecticut and also fol- lowed the vocation of a farmer.

The Chapel family were of English extraction and early settlers in this country. Jonathan, grand- father of our subject, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and Mr. Chapel of this notice still retains in his family, as a memento of those " trying days," the old musket his grandfather used. The grandfather died in Berkshire Co., Mass., at an advanced age.

The father of Mr. Chapel came West in 1868 and lived with his children until the date of his death, which occurred at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. E. A. Watkins, in Malta, May 13, 1874. The mother and grandmother of Mr. Chapel were both natives of New York. The latter died in Berkshire Co., Mass., about 1847, at an advanced age, and the mother, Amanda (Chapel) Chapel, also died in that county, in 1880, aged 79 years.

George Chapel lived at home, and assisted the father in the cultivation of the farm and attending the common schools, until he attained the age of 22 years. At this period in his life, Mr. Chapel was united in marriage. That event occurred at Lebanon Springs, Columbia Co., N. Y., Aug. 26, 1852, and the life companion he chose was Miss Mary E. Watkins. She was a daughter of Millen and Barbara (Arm- strong) Watkins, natives of Massachusetts and Scot- land, respectively. Her grandfather and grandmother, Zack and Olive (Brown) Watkins, were natives of Massachusetts, of English extraction, and died in

Berkshire Co., that State, the former in 1852 and the latter in 1874, aged respectively 73 and 92 years.

The parents of Mrs. Chapel came to this county in 1858 and located in Malta Township, where her father died in September, 1867, and her mother in September, 1874, aged 68 and 83 years respectively. Mrs. Chapel remained a member of her father's fam- ily until the date of her marriage.

After marriage Mr. Chapel lived in his native State and county until the year 1858, when he came to this county and located in South Grove Township. He remained on that farm six years, until 1864, when he moved to Malta Township and purchased 186 acres of land approximate to the village of Malta. The land was only partially improved at the time he made his purchase, but he has since improved the entire tract and has the same under a good state of cultivation.

Mr. and Mrs. Chapel are the parents of five chil- dren, one of whom is deceased. The living are Emma A., born March 16, 1856, and married David Radcliff, Dec. 12, 1875, at Malta ; Will D., born Dec. 3, 1858, married Miss Iola Chandler, Dec. I, 1878, and resides on the homestead; Barbara, born July 24, 1863, resides with her parents; and George E., born July 26, 1869, also resides on the farm.

Mr. and Mrs. Chapel are members of the Congre- gational Church, of which Mr. Chapel is a Trustee and Deacon.

Politically, Mr. Chapel is a Republican. He has been Assessor of his township for 10 years, and is at present acting in that capacity.

iles M. Alexander, general merchant at Shabbona, was born in Paris, Oneida Co., N. Y., July 15, 1823. He is a son of Henry and Betsy (Gallup) Alexander, who soon after the birth of their son moved to Herkimer County, that State, and settled on a farm. Mr. Alexander, of this sketch, was brought up on his father's farm in Herkimer County. His years of minority were passed in farm labor and in attendance at the common schools. In the fall of 1845, in Herkimer County, he was married to Miss Eve, daughter of Dennis and Elizabeth Clapsaddle. She was born in Herkimer County, N. Y., May 28,

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1822. Two children were the issue of their union, namely : Elizabeth C., wife of M. V. Allen, of Shabbona, and Eva M., wife of W. W. Bouslough, residing at Shabbona. Mrs. Alexander died in the fall of 1858.

In the spring of 1854 Mr. Alexander, with his family, came to this county and located on section 34, Shabbona Township. He entered at once on the improvements and cultivation of his land and con- tinued to reside on it until 1875. In the spring of that year he moved to Shabbona village and engaged in the drug business. Two years later, sold his busi- ness to Capt. M. V. Allen, and in October, 1878, en- gaged in the mercantile business which he has con- tinued to the present time. He carries a full line of general merchandise and is conducting a growing and prosperous business.

Mr. Alexander contracted a second marriage in Herkimer County, N. Y., in October, 1859, the lady chosen for his wife being a Miss Maryett, daughter of Lawrence and Margaret (Hess) Clapsaddle.

Politically, Mr. Alexander is a Republican. He has held various public offices, was Supervisor of Shabbona Township two years and Justice of the Peace 11 years, and is at present holding the latter office. He is one of the oldest Masons in this vi- cinity and was prominently instrumental in establish- ing Shabbona Lodge, No. 374, and was elected its first Master after the charter was organized.

illiam D. Seeley, mechanic and retired farmer on section 3, Franklin Township, was born Nov. 18, 1816, in Easton Town- ship, Bristol Co., Mass. He was brought up to the vocation of a farmer, and on attain- ing his majority he found himself with the dis- posal of his future on his hands. Mr. Seeley came to Boone Co., Ill., in 1851. He became the owner of 60 acres of land in that county, where he pursued agriculture with success and profit. In 1870 he sold the place and located where he has since resided and where he owns 18 acres of land. On`making sale of his land in Boone County he put the money at inter- est, and the accumulated sum is now a practical competency for a man of moderate requirements. He lives in solitude, engaged at times in farming and

working also as a blacksmith and carpenter. He is a natural mechanic, with an aptitude for the use of tools which was not acquired under the directions or guidance of a craftsman. He enjoys his solitary cir- cumstances, and he has been an expert in flute-play- ing, but is now deprived of the pleasure of his favor- ite recreation, having received an injury to one of his hands which resulted in necrosis of the bone, neces- sitating amputation of his arm below the elbow. His natural ingenuity is manifest from the fact that he is still a skillful workman as a mechanic.

He was married in early manhood, but circum- stances compelled a separation from his wife. They had two children,-Sarah F. and William H.,-who remained in the State of New York.

C Carlos Lattin, deceased, a former pioneer of De Kalb County, was born May 30, 1813, in Reading, Conn., of which State his parents, Abner and Sarah Lattin, were both natives. The family removed to the State of New York in 1815 and settled in that part of Chemung County now included in Schuyler County, where Mr. Lattin grew to manhood and was reared on a farm. His parents had six children, and when he was nine years of age he became an inmate of the family of Jesse Lyon, under whose charge he contin- ued until i834. In that year he came to Illinois, going at first to the southern part of the State. He came to De Kalb County in the spring of 1835 and took possession of a claim including the west part of the present site of Sycamore. When the land came into market, Mr. Lattin, with other settlers in. De Kalb County, went to Chicago and entered a claim to 160 acres of land, now within the city limits. He built a log house in Sycamore, on Main Street, near the present location of the National Bank. This was his home for ten years. He next erected a brick house on High Street, which he occupied ten years. His next residence was a large frame house, which he built on the corner of Somnonauk and High Streets. Mr. Lattin was a resident of Sycamore 41 years, and was a witness of, and a participant in, its career of splendid progress. He was a member of the Metho- dist Church, and a most zealous supporter of the society at Sycamore. He donated the land now oc-

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cupied by the church edifice and the two parsonages, besides a great deal of money. He gave $1,000 to- ward the present church. He was one of its first members, and when the first church was built he and Joseph Sixbury, as Trustees, assumed the heavy in- debtedness, of which he afterwards paid $500.

In the days of his early political belief he was a Whig, but on the organization of the Republican party he adopted its principles and issues. The first political meeting at Sycamore was held at the home of Mr. Lattin. He was one of the first instigators of the movement which established the county seat at Sycamore. He was engaged for a number of years in traffic in grain and lumber, his farm being leased. His death took place at Sycamore,, April, 20, 1876.

Mr. Lattin was married Sept. 5, 1839, to Nancy, daughter of James and Ruth (Pierce) Cartwright. She was born Aug. 9, 1820, in the town of Perinton, Monroe Co., N. Y. Mr. and Mrs. Lattin became the parents of seven children,-Jesse L., Ellen D., John W., Carlos Orlando, Marion Ella, Charles W. and Sadie A. All are deceased but the two youngest.

Charles W. was born March 6, 1855. He was educated in the public schools of Sycamore, and in the Gem City College, where he was graduated in 1873. He was married Oct. 10, 1883, to Emily E., daughter of George E. and Christina (Young) Stafford, born in the township of Cortland. C. W. is the own- er of 190 acres of finely improved land situated on sections 30 and 31, formerly the property of his father. The youngest child-Sadie A .- married Frank E. Stephens, a banker and attorney at Huron, Dak.

gerbert W. Fay, editor of the Hinckley Review and of the Waterman Leader, was born Feb. 28, 1859, in Squaw Grove Town- ship, and is the son of Edwin and Ann (Hay- wood) Fay, the former a native of New York, the latter of Maine. His father settled in De Kalb County in 1849, on a soldier's land warrant obtained for services in the Mexican War. The mother died Nov. 1I, 1884. The father resides in the township of Squaw Grove.

Mr. Fay obtained his primary education in the common schools, and was a student four years at the college at Monmouth. After completing his educa-

tional course, he taught school one term, and then came to Hinckley and purchased a third interest in the Review and remained in company with Tomblin Brothers, the former proprietors, from May, 1880, to May, 1882, when he became sole proprietor by pur- chase and has since conducted the paper alone. Politically he is a Republican.

He was married Sept. 24, 1884, in Hinckley, to Nellie, daughter of William M. and Rosetta Sebree. (See sketch of W. M. Sebree.) Mrs. Fay was born in Squaw Grove Township, Dec. 21, 1864.

The grandfather of Mr. Fay, Horace W. Fay, was a civil engineer on the Illinois & Michigan Canal and an early surveyor of De Kalb County, laying out nearly the entire county. He became prominent in public affairs and was a member of the Legislature of Illinois from 1848 to 1850. He died at Vicks- burg, Miss., during the course of the Civil War, while officiating as an army chaplain. H. W. Fay has been Village Clerk of Hinckley, since 1881, and Town Clerk of Squaw Grove Township since 188,2.

Mr. Fay is the youngest editor in De Kalb County. He is a young man of versatile talents, has a decided predilection for a literary career and is an accom- plished draughtsman, showing some fine specimens from his pencil. He possesses a fine discriminating taste in artistic matters.

ames L. Hamilton, farmer and stock-raiser, section II, Malta Township, was born in Delaware Co., N. Y., Dec. 1, 1844. The grandfather of James L., Robert Hamilton, was a native of Glasgow, Scotland, and emi- grated to America, settling in Delaware Co., N. Y., about the year 1800. He was one of the first to settle in that county and was a soldier in the war of 1812. He died on the old homestead on which he originally settled.

John Hamilton, father of James L., was born on the homestead of his father, Robert, assisted him on the farm and remained thereon, developing into manhood. He married Miss Mary Scott, a native of New York and of Scotch extraction. She was his faithful and loving companion until February, 1861, when death called her to a better home. They were the parents of four children, namely: James L.,

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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 71

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

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