USA > Illinois > Will County > Portrait and biographical album of Will County, Illinois : containing full page portraits and biographical sketches of prominent and representative citizens of the county > Part 44
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91
Dr. Brunson belongs to various societies, chiefly college fraternities, among them being the Delta Tau Delta and the Erosophian Literary Society. m both of which at various times he occupied each of the Chairs. In church work he is an active participant and during the three years in which he
has been Superintendent of the Universalist Sunday- school, he has awakened the interest and built up the school to one of goodly numbers. On Novem- ber 6, 1889. Dr. Brunson was united in marriage with Miss Rose Pilcher Stopp. of Plainfield, who presides with charming grace over his cozy home at 1204 Western Avenue.
AMES B. KING is a prominent citizen of DuPage Township, where for nearly forty years he has been actively engaged in ag- ricultural pursuits, and to his sturdy enter- prise is it greatly indebted for its present substan- tial prosperity. He was born September 17, 1820, amid the pleasant scenes of the pretty New En- gland town of Benson. Rutland County, Vt. He came of sterling New England stock, his ancestors having come from old England to that part of the country in early Colonial times. His parents, Eli and Eliza (Johnson) King. were natives of New England. and his paternal grandfather, Eli King, bore an honorable part in the Revolution that set the Colonies free from the mother country. serving through the entire war. and the father of our sub- jeet was also a patriotic soldier in that contest.
Our subject was the oldest son of a family of five children, and was reared to man's estate on a farm among his native hills. He received his early ed- ucation in the district schools, and by careful read- ing has added to it, and to- day is an exceedingly well-informed man. He began his career in the calling to which he had been bred on his native soil. In 1854 he embraced the line opportunity offered him to locate on the farm where he is now living to better his fortunes. Here he and his wife have a well-appointed farm. supplied with a substantial set of commodious buildings, with farming machinery of the most approved manu- facture, and the whole place bears an air of neat- ness and thrift that make it attractive, and show That it is under the management of a master hand and mind.
Mr. King was married October 28. 1810, in his native State, to Diana Branch, who bore him two
108
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
daughters: Eliza, wife of E. 1. Bartoo, of Indiana; and Affa, wife of George Dunlap. of Plainfieldl. Ill. Mr. King married for his second wife Laura. Branch. They had no children. Our subject was married a third time, November 3, 1856. taking for his wife Miss Mary 1. Alden.
Mrs. King is a native of this county, born June 24, 1839, a daughter of Ebenezer and Mary Allen, who were of good old New England stock, and were natives of Massachusetts, and she is a descen- dant of the famous John Alden, the scholar of the "Mayflower," who was a successful rival of Miles Standish in his courtship. Mrs. King's father was a prominent pioneer of this county, coming here in the fall of 1832. Mrs. King's mother did not. come until the spring of 1835. Mr. Alden squat- ted on the land before it was in the market and when the land sale occurred he secured a patent from the Government, which parchment is still owned by Mrs. King and was signed by President Tyler. Her parents were among the earliest set. tlers of Du Page Township, and at the time he came here the country was in a very will condition. Indians were still living here and a portion of the farm, on which Mr. King now resides. was cov- ered with Indian mounds or graves, and it is sup- posed to have been an old Indian battle ground. They had to endure many of the hardships of pio- neer life and to live without the enjoyment of many things they had thought to be necessaries in their old home, but by years of toil and strug- gle, they succeeded in accumulating a comfort- able property and at the time of his death, Mr. Alden left an estate of three hundred and eight- een acres. Both he and his wife died of con- sumption, his death occurring October 17, 1850, and the mother dying February 28, 1857. They were the parents of six children, two of whom are now living, Mrs. King, and Martha, wife of O. S. Smith, of Cheboygan County, Mich. Their other children were Franklin, Judson, Hattie and Angelia. Mrs. King's father was a sincere Chris- tian and a member of the Baptist Church. In his death the county lost one of its most enterprising pioneers, who was doing his full share to promote its growth. Mr. and Mrs. King's wedded life has been blessed to them by the birth of one son,
Charles. They have also an adopted daughter, Hattie, whom, in the kindness of their hearts, they have taken to their home and are giving her every advantage as if she were of their own flesh and blood.
Mr. King came here in pioneer days, and it may be his pride that he has had a hand in shaping the prosperity of the county. He is a sagacious far-seeing man, of excellent business capacity, is friendly and obliging in his relations with his neighbors, and is in every way a man of irre- proachable character. His fellow citizens, fully cognizant of his worth, have called him to office at various times, and he has served as Supervisor of DuPage Township two terms, and has been district School Director for a number of years. and as a publie official shows himself to be honest and progressive. In his political atfiliations he is a Republican. He and his wife are members of the Congregational Church at Naperville, and are identified with its every good work. They are people of high social standing, and their home is the center of that true hospitality where host and hostess vie with each other in entertaining and making comfortable all who cross its threshhold, be they friends or strangers.
ILLIAM GLOVER is a fine type of the na- tive-born citizens of this State. who have since attaining manhood stepped forward to aid in carrying on the work so well begun by their fathers, in developing and sustaining the great agricultural interests in this part of the country. Hle is engaged in farming and stock-rais- ing on the very farm that his father evolved from the wild prairies in the early settlement of this region.
Our subject was born here May 3, 1846, and is a son of John and Harriet ( Robey) Glover, na- tives of England. His father, now a resident of Naperville, was formerly a well-known pioneer of this township. He emigrated from his native land in early manbood and coming to Illinois identified himself with the early settlers of DuPage County.
409
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
lle rented a farm there for two years and then coming to this county, settled in what is now Du- Page Township, on the farm now occupied by our subjeet. It was then in a wild uncultivated con- dition, with the exception of four aeres that were broken. He toiled busily carly and late in culti- vating and improving the place and made of it a choice farm. He was a man fairly-well educated and during his residence here was looked upon with respect. and was often solicited to take office. but never cared to do so. although he favored all the schemes for public improvements. He is a sturdy Democrat in his political faith. He is in his six- ty-eighth year, and still retains his mental and phy- sical faculties in a marked degree. His wife did not come from England until after he came. By her death in 1887 he sustained a great loss. She was a truly good woman and a consistent member of the Presbyterian Church. She bore him five children, as follows: William : Sarah, a resident of Naperville; Mary, wife of John Murr of DuPage Township; James, living in Missouri. and Ada, wife of Julius Highland.
William Glover. of whom this biographical sketch is written, was about two years old when his parents brought him to this county, and here he was reared under the influenees of pioneer life and has been an eye witness of the greater part of the growth of the county from its primitive condition. He received his education in the district schools of this town-hip, which at that carly day did not offer the children of the pioneers the fine educational priv- leges that the children of the present generation enjoy. He was a diligent scholar. however, and gained all the knowledge possible in school, and since, by reading and observation has added to it so that he is now a well-informed man. He do- votes himself to the management of his land which comprises one hundred and forty-three and forty- four one-hundredths acres of land, mostly uwler cultivation and supplied with comfortable build. ings, and every needed improvement.
Mr. Glover is a man of upright habits and sound principles. and is sagacious. careful and thrifty in the management of his affairs. He lia- thus placed him-elf amongst the solid men of the township, and his traits of character are such as to
command the respect and regard of his fellow cit. izens. In his political views he is a firm believer in the policy promulgated by the Democratic party and is a faithful supporter of its principles. All things that will in any way improve township or county meet with his cordial favor. Ile has served acceptably as School Director in District No. 3 for two years. Mr. Glover was married March 9. 18>5. to Mrs. Matilda Butstround, whose maiden name was Burgess, a native of England. By her union with Mr. Glover she is the mother of one son named John. By her first marriage she has one daughter and one son. Elizabeth and Al- hert.
ILLIAM CAMPBELL STAGE. This gen- tleman was born in Morris, Grundy County, IN., December 11, 1858, but be- (ume a dweller in foliet, in boyhood. His father, William Stage, was born in Indiana, December 19. 1831. and his mother, Ruth Ann Smart. in Day- ton, Ohio. The latter was descended from old Knickerbocker stock. In 1:56, Mr. Stage en- gaged in the business of contracting and building in Morris, and during the decade following con- structed many of the most noted buildings of that city. Among them are the Streeter Block, the high-school building and the engine houses. He was also engaged in farming at the same time. his farin being five miles north of the city.
When .loliet was having a boom, Mr. Stage saw a chance to exercise his power and he therefore in INGS, commenced to operate here but still made his home in Morris until 1882. He was immediately engaged to superintend the building of the Steel Works. After the great fire in Chicago he put up some of the well-known buildings of that city, one of which is the Batchelor & Whiting Block. cor. ner of Randolph and Clark. The parental family consisted of the following children: Will C .. Hlat- tie, Alexander, George H., Charles B .. Clara. May and Maggie, Hattie. Alexander and Maggie are now deceased.
After the death of his father, William Campbell
110
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
Stage continued the contracting business at which he was very successful. In 1885. he embarked in the manufacture of wire, but the business not proving profitable, he returned to contracting and building in stone and masonry, which suited the natural bent of his life. In a brief time he has shown that he is a true son of his father. Hle bas recently purchased an extensive quarry two and one-half miles west of Joliet, which contains stone of unsurpassed quality.
1
Mr. Stage was educated first in the schools of Morris, afterwards taking a course in the Commer- cial College. at Dayton, Ohio, and is therefore well versed in practical knowledge. He is a mem- 1 ber of the Masonic Lodge No. 12. of Jofiet. and is a most devoted Republican. In religious faith he is a Methodist. He is universally esteemed and looked upon as a rising man, his energy in bus iness giving promise of a high degree of worldly success and his traits of character making him one of the most popular members of society. He has an extremely cozy home, among its many improve- ments being an artesian well, three hundred and forty-six feet deep.
The pleasant dwelling is presided over by a capable and loveable woman who became the wife of our subject January 11, 1880. She bore the maiden name of Jufia Lnella McCowan, and be- longs to a family which is classed among the pio- neers of Will County. The happy marriage has been blest by the birth of four children: Nettie Emma, born in 1880; Alfred Campbell in 1883; Alma Ethel. in 1885; and desse W. in 1889. They form a bright group in whose growing intelligence the parents take great delight and the older son al- ready evinces musical talent of a high order.
DAM DREMM, coming to Plainfield Township a quarter of a century ago, and placing himself among its sturdy. practical and wide-awake farmers, has managed its agricultural interests with such success that he ac- quired a handsome competence and was enabled to
retire from active business when searcely past the meridian of life. He is of foreign birth. born in Germany, near the River Rhine, June 5, 1831. His father. Adam Drumm, was from the same place, and his grandfather, also bearing that name, was born in the same Province. He was a miller by trade, and spent his entire life there. The father of our subject learned the trade in his father's mill, but after marriage he turned his attention to farming, and always followed that ocenpation. spending his entire life in the land of his nativity. The maiden name of his wife was Sarah Baum, a native and life-long resident of the same place as him-elf. They had four children, of whom our subject was the only son, and the only member of the family who ever came to America.
Mr. Drumm received a solid education in the schools of his native land, which he attended steadily until he was fourteen years of age. Hle then assisted his father on the farm, and remained an inmate of the parental household until he was nineteen years oldl. At that age he started out in the world to make his own living, and ambitious to see what life held for him in America, he turned his face toward this country, and setting sail from Havre the 15th of June, 1853. on the good ship "Isabella," landed at New York, after a long voy- age of fifty-three days. He went directly to Ohio, and when he arrived at his destination found that he had but $3 in his pocket, and as he was an entire stranger and had no knowledge of the Eng- lish language, his prospects were discouraging. Nothing daunted. he sought employment, and soon engaged to labor on a farm at $10 a month, and was thus employed for two years. In 1855 he took an important step in life, as in that year he came to this county, to take up his residence in this region. With wise economy while working on a farm here he saved his earnings, and finally was enabled to become more independent by rent- ing land. He did so well in its management that in 1865 he had enough to buy land and make a purchase of forty acres on section 17. Three years later he sold that and bought one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 32. This was wild prairie land. though it was fenced and a few acres were broken. Mr. Drumm completed a house that
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHIICAL ALBUM.
was partially built, and later erected a substantial barn, corn-eribs and other needed buildings, and was assiduously engaged in tilling the soil until 1885, when he rented the farm, and coming to I'lainfield, has since lived retired in one of its at- tractive homes.
In 1857 Mr. Drumm was united in marriage with Miss Esther Arter, a native of Cumberland County. Pa. Her father, John Arter, was a native of the same State, while his father. Philip Arter, is thought to have been born in Germany, though he spent the last years of his life in Cumberland County. Mrs. Drumm's father was reared and married in the Keystone State, and subsequently moved from there to Stark County, Ohio. In 1854 he left that State, and coming to this county, he bought a farm in Plainfield Township, on which he lived some years, and then came to the village where he has since lived retired. The maiden name of his wife was Ellen King, and she was born in England, and died on the farm in Plainfield Township. Mr. and Mrs. Drumm have had four children, as follows: William II .; Sarah, wife of Edward Huffman; Jessie N. and George E. The great grief in an otherwise happy wedded life has been in the death of their daughter Jessie, who died at the age of eighteen years.
Mr. Drumm has a keen, resolute nature, and by prompt, systematic methods and other excellent business habits, has acquired a valuable property, and is one of the moneyed men of the place. He is a man of earnest religious feeling, and in him and his worthy wife, the Methodist Episcopal Church has two of its most active members.
AVID G. WHUITSON. Manhattan Town- ship contains many rural homes, where comfort abounds and many of the luxuries of life may be found, among them that of David G. Whitson on section 18. The owner is an early settler of Will County, which has been his home since he was twelve years old. and much information can be obtained from him regarding the growth of this section, and indeed of the en-
tire State, as he is well informed and possesses the happy faculty of conversing well. llis nature is a genial and energetic one, the latter quality being well proven by his financial success and equally well by the services which he rendered his country during the late war.
Mr. Whitson is the fourth in a family of nine children. whose parents are mentioned at length in the biography of his brother, John II. Whitson, found elsewhere in this ALBUM. Ile was born April 7, 1841, in Lawrence County, where the first twelve years of his life were chietly spent. llis surroundings were such as were common to most farmers' sons, and even in his boyhood he was given his share in the duties of the home, acquiring skill in various lighter labors of the farm. His setool privileges were somewhat lim. ited, as the system then in vogue was that of sub- seription schools which were open but a portion of the year. The temple of learning was an old fashioned log building, with a large, open fire- place, puncheon floor, slab benches and small windows. One of his early recollections is of a trip to lowa, which was made with teams, the Missis- sippi River being crossed at Burlington; this or- curred when he was ten years old.
The family sojourned in Iowa about a year and then returned to their former home where, not long after, our subject and his brother Will- iam were left in charge of some forty head of cattle, while the father came with the rest of the family to Will County. Two months after their removal the brothers drove the cattle to the new home, our subject taking a man's place upon the farm. During the winter he attended school, ad- ding to his store of knowledge, and at other times becoming more and more thoroughly ac- quainted with agricultural life.
When he had reached man's estate Mr. Whitson began life for himself upon rented land, in Kan- kakee County, near Rockville. He began his la- bors there in the spring of 1862. but in August, not being able longer to continue peaceful pur- suits while his country's needs cried to him for the strength of his right arm. he left valuable ma- chines standing in the field and dropping everything entered the army. He was enrolled in Company I.
112
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
Seventy sixth Illinois Infantry, mustered in at Kankakee City and sent South, two months later becoming a Corporal. From Cairo the troops went to Columbus, Ky., where for a short time they were in eamp and whither they took their way to Bolivar, via Holley Springs, engaged in skirmishing daily. They were next sent to Memu- phis and on the way thither were engaged in skirmishes, several of which amounted really to battles. Our subjeet was at this time acting as Sergeant over thirty-six men, doing provost and patrol work under Gen. Ilall. Commander of the Second Brigade, Fourth Division, Seventeenth Army Corps.
At Memphis the troops took boats for Vicks- burg. landing at Young's Point, around which they marched to bear their part in the famous siege. Mr. Whitson had the good fortune to see Gen. Grant receive the sword of Gen. Pemberton when the latter surrendered. The next heavy en- gagement in which he took part was the battle of Jackson, following which was that of Clinton, a return to Vicksburg and the Yazoo expedition. The Red River expedition soon followed and then the removal to New Orleans, where they camped at Sedgwick Hospital. Only those who are famil- iar with army life can fully realize the danger and toil which tilled the intervals between the battles and expeditions mentioned, and know all that the boys in blue endured on tented field, in weary marches and in the heat of battle.
Breaking camp, the troops of which our subject formed an integral part, embarked on the "Pea- body" with Gen. Hall. The boat was disabled on account of the rudder chain being broken by the force of the breakers, and it became necessary to throw three hundred and fifty mules, twenty-five horses. all the provisions and many other stores overboard, in order that the boat might be able to reach New Orleans, to which they were obliged to return. They then took the Lake Pontchartrain train to Pensacola, where they were in camp four weeks, marching thence to Spanish Fort which they captured, thence proceeding to besiege Ft. Blakely. lIere Mr. Whitson received a serious wound which necessitated his being sent to the hospital and re- maining there three months. After he had gotten
inside of the rifle pits a shell struck the back of his right shoulder, taking off the flesh and injuring the shoulder blade. At Clinton he had received a slight scratch from a musket ball, which passed be- tween his first and second fingers. At Sedgwick Hospital, September 6, 1865, he was mustered out of the service and honorably discharged after a valiant army life of over three years.
Returning to his home Mr. Whitson again en- gaged in farming. the following year traveling through Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska with teams. Returning again to the parental home he farmed his father's place until 1868, when he purchased eighty acres of raw land, at $33 per acre, and loca- ted upon it. He placed it under thorough cultiva- tion and excellent improvenent, and it now forms a part of his fine estate. In 1876 he paid 846 per acre for the eighty belonging to his brother John, and putting up a house removed to that part of his land. The entire quarter section is tillable, is divided by good fences into fields of convenient size, is beautified and made more valuable by a good orchard and all the buildings necessary for the proper housing of crops and stock and the convenience of the dwellers upon it. A modern barn, 16x46 feet, was built in 1889. Good grades of Clydesdale horses and Poland-China swine are kept, and in addition to those raised upon the place Mr. Whitson feeds at least a car load of swine per year.
The lady who for a number of years ably pre- sided over the home of Mr. Whitson, bore the maiden name of Mary Etter, and became his wife in Joliet, February 24, 1869. She was a native of the Buckeye State and member of a family of which further mention is made in the sketch of John II. Whitson, occupying another page in this ALBUM. She was removed from the scenes of time in April, 1883, leaving behind her a sorrowing household and friends whose name is legion. To Mr. and Mrs. Whitson eight children were born, named respectively, E. Charles, Elizabeth, Lanra, Louis, Mary, Edith, Arthur and William.
Mr. Whitson has been an efficient laborer in the cause of education, and has been called upon to serve as School Director during nearly all of his mature years. He still occupies that position. He is a
Benj Shaffer
415
PORTRAIT AND BIOGRAPHICAL ALBUM.
devoted adherent of the principles of Republican- . ism, has served his party as a delegate to county conventions and been appointed to represent the interests of this section in a State convention, al- though he did not attend this meeting. He has sat upon both grand and petit juries. He sup- ports and attends the Methodist Episcopal Church.
B ENJAMIN SHAFFNER. A career of plod- dling industry followed through many years has placed Mr. Shaffner in a position of independence financially, and he is now living retired from active business amid the com- forts of a pleasant home in the city of loliet. Hle was born in Cumberland County, Pa., November 19, 1825, and is a son of John Shaffner, also a na- tive of the Keystone State. The mother bore the maiden name of Susanna Bowers, and after mar- riage the parents settled on a farm in their native State.
Sojourning in Pennsylvania until 1826, the pa- rents of our subject then took up their line of march for Ohio, locating in what was then Stark but now Summit County, where they sojourned for a period of twenty years. Thence they removed to New Lennox Township. Will County, where the father constructed another home and there spent the closing years of his life, dying at the advanced age of eighty-one. The mother survived her hits- band five years.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.