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 74
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ILLIAM E. HENRY. Examples of per- sistence in a chosen vocation and of hon- est labor followed by success, are ummer- ous, and it is ever a pleasure to record the lives of those who furnish them. A portrait of the sub- jeet of this biographical record appears on the opposite page. He is one of those men who have spent many years in one calling and whose lives are marked by honorable dealing and moral principle.
Ile is now engaged in the real-estate business at Joliet, where he has long resided.
Joseph and Nancy ( Apgar) Henry, the parents of our subject, were of German descent and natives of New Jersey, in which State the father was on- gaged in farming. Ile died at the age of about sixty years, and his wife passed away in 1864. Their family comprised three sons and four dangh- ters, of whom the subject of this sketch is the first born. George died at the age of nineteen years ; Jacob A., is living in Joliet; Mrs. Lydia A. Lowe resides in Fredericksburg, Ohio; Mrs. Rebecca Swackhammer lives in New Jersey; Mrs. Catherine Washburn, now deceased, resided in Massachusetts ; Mrs. Ellen White. a widow, lives in Joliet.
The subject of this sketch opened his eyes to the light in New Germantown, Hunterdon County, N. J., November 21, 1820, and passed his boyhood days in his native State. At the age of twenty years he began his career as a railroad man by ob- taining a position in the track department of the Hartford & New Haven Railroad. For thirty-three years he continued to do railroad work. during that time laying about two thousand miles of track in seventeen different States. His last venture in that line was a contract for laying one hundred and sixty-five miles of the track of the Grand Trunk Railroad. from Valparaiso, Ind., to Lansing, Mich., and terminated unfortunately, as he has never yet received his pay.
In 1819, Mr. Henry removed to Wellington, Ohio, and made it his home until 1854, when he returned to his native State, ten years later coming to .Joliet, III. Here he connected himself with the Chicago & Alton Railroad, as Roadmaster. con- tinuing with that company until 1870, when he took the contract before mentioned, which proved an unremunerative one. During the years of 1863, 1864, he had charge of the railroad tracks, bridges, etc., in the army of the Potomac. At the time of the battle of Anteitam, Md., he was laying the horse-car road from Pennsylvania Avenue to the Post-office and Navy Yard in Washington City, as its contractor. The Chickahominy bridge was built by him, as contractor, before the war. In 1873. he was elected Mayor of Joliet. and under his faithful oversight, the interests of the city were
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rapidly developed. In 1876, having permanently retired from the railroad business, he opened a real- estate office in which he yet continues.
In politics Mr. Henry is a life long Democrat, James K. Polk having received his first ballot in the State of Connecticut, when a property qualifi- cation was required in order to secure the right of suffrage. lle belongs to the Masonic fraternity which he first joined in Cleveland, Ohio, dannary 24, 1850.
The first marriage of Mr. Henry took place Jan- uary 20, 1845, his bride being Miss Elizabeth Stan- nard, of Westbrook, Conn., who shared his for- tunes until 1854, when death removed her from husband and family. She was the mother of five children, two of whom are yet living, their names being George W., and Jacob J., and both being residents of Joliet. On January 20. 1856, Mr. llenry contracted a second matrimonial alliance, his companion being Miss Susan C. Shurts. This union has been blessed by the birth of seven child- ren, of whom those named below are yet living. John is the general manager of the Hubbard Pub- lishing Company in St. Louis, Mo .; Elmer is en- gaged in the crockery business in Joliet; Joseph E., is a furniture dealer of this city; Flora and Lillie remain with their parents.
G EORGE J. MUNROE, Attorney-at-Law, in Joliet, and President of the Citizens' Loan and Trust Company, of Kansas City, Mo., holds an honored place in the commercial circles of this county. During the twelve years in which he has made a specialty of loans, he has successfully handled $1,818,000 mainly for Eastern parties. HIe also handles municipal bonds and other negotiable securities. At present Mr. Munroe advances his own money largely in making loans and in pur- chasing securities, afterwards selling them to in- vestors at home and in the East and realizing handsome returns.
The subject of this notice was born February 11. 1853, in Baraboo, Wis., and is the son of Jolm and Adelia ( Paddock) Munroe who are still living and
residents of Baraboo, Wis. John Munroe was born in 1833 in Munroe County. N. Y., where he lived until reaching man's estate. He then emigrated to Southern Wisconsin, but five years later changed the scene of his operations to Sank County, of which he was a resident forty-two years, and engaged in farming pursuits. Then wisely retiring from active labor he removed to the city of Baraboo, where he and his wife are highly respected and are promi- nently connected with the Unitarian Church.
The parents of our subject were married at Bar- ahoo, Wis .. in 1851. Mrs. Adelia ( Paddock ) Min- roe was born in 1833 in Antioch. Lake County, Ill., where she was reared to womanhood and re- ceived a good education. She taught school some time prior to her marriage. Of this union there were born three children, all of whom are living, viz: George .J., our subject; Ward, who conducts a cold storage warehouse in Baraboo; and Bessie, the wife of Frank Teal of that city. The elder Munroe was prominent in local affairs during the years of his active life, holding the office of Town- ship Treasurer and School Director, and during the Civil War was entrusted with a large amount of funds to pay off the discharged soldiers at Madison, Wis. He was a strong U'nion man and uniformly voted with the Republican party. For many years be was one of the Commissioners of Sauk County.
The Munroe family is of Scotch origin and was first represented in this country by the great-grand- father of our subject, George Munroe, who crossed the Atlantic at an early day and settled in Munroe County, N. Y., and which in all probability was named after him. The great-great-grandfather was also named George, and was one of the pioneer farmers of Munroe County, N. Y. Their descend- ants have inherited in a marked degree the worthy and substantial traits of their ancestors, being men who have held important positions and who have almost uniformly been found worthy of the trusts relegated to them.
The subject of this notice pursued his early studies in the schools of his native city and when a youth of sixteen years repaired to Oberlin, Ohio, and entered the famous Oberlin College, of which he was a student two years. Later he attended the Normal School at Lebanon, Ohio, and from which
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he was duly graduated and subsequently followed the profession of a teacher in the Buckeye State. For some time he was Principal of the school at Marlboro, Ohio, which numbered six hundred - pupils. Thence, in the year 1874, he removed to Chicago, IN., for the purpose of reading law. Ile was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court at Springfield in 1877, and soon thereafter came to Joliet, where he followed his profession success- fully to the present time. In the early days of Kansas City his attention was called to its growing prosperity and he accordingly made some invest- ments which have proved very valuable. The Citizens' Loan & Trust Association commenced business February 1, 1889, and at the close of the first year was enabled to make a most satisfactory report of the condition of the company which has already established itself firmly in the confidence of the business men of that place. No small credit is due to President Munroe for the successful man- ner in which it has been conducted.
The subject of this notice was joined in wedlock with Miss Addie Simond, of Joliet, November 21, 1>77. The following year Mr. Munroe entered upon the regular practice of his profession in the same office which he now occupies and where he has transacted a very successful business. Mr, and Mrs. Munroe occupy a snug home in the Seventh Ward of the city, and are now the parents of two bright children, a daughter and son, Jennie and llarold. Mr. and Mrs. Munroe are both members in good standing of St. John's Universalist Church.
Mrs. Munroe was born May 22, 1856, in Joliet. and is the daughter of Salmon O. and C. J. (Treat) Simond, who were natives of New York. Mr. Simond was one of the pioneer farmers of Munroe County, N. Y., but after coming to Joliet became identified with its educational interests and was elected Superintendent of Schools. He won his way into the confidence and esteem of the com- munity by his straightforward and upright life and held various offices, the duties of which he discharged in a manner creditable to himself and satisfactory to all concerned. He died at his home in Joliet, May 30, 1888. His widow is now living with her son-in-law, Mr. Munroe. She bore the maiden name of Jane Treat, and was born in Cat-
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taraugus County, N. Y. To her and her husband there was born a family of two children, Mrs. Mun- roe being the only one now living. The Simond family were among the earliest settlers of this county, and made for themselves a good record in connection with its growth and development.
HARLES HI. BLOGG. In a city like Joliet the subject of fuel is an important one and a trade in that necessary article furnishes occupation to many dealers. The subject of this sketch, although he has not been engaged in busi- ness here for any great length of time, has already built up a fine trade. He handles all grades of hard coal together with the Wilmington and Indiana block coal. His boyhood was passed upon a farm, and in the pursuit of agriculture he was engaged until 1888, when he established his present business. llis nature is an energetic one, and his early train- ing developed those traits which are needful to a successful business career and secured for him the practical education without which a man can . scarcely succeed.
Mr. Blogg is still quite young, having been born June 22, 1851. His birthplace was Norwich, Eng- land. his parents removing to Lockport, Ill., when he was about six years of age. and he is the oktest of six sons and two daughters born to them. He is a member of the Modern Woodmen organi- zation and of the First Presbyterian Church. His private character is above reproach, while in knowl- edge of general topies and current events he keeps pace with the times. The estimable lady who pre- sides over his cozy home is the daughter of one of Will County's wealthy farmers, whose home is at Plainfield. Her maiden name was Mary Am Goodson, and her parents were William and Sarah Goodson. whose voyage across the Atlantic was their wedding journey. Mr. and Mrs. Blogg were married February 14, 1877, and are the parents of one child, Mabel.
The parents of our subject are John and Maria (Ililling) Blogg, natives of England, whence they came to America in 1857. In England John Blogg
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was a farm laborer and had spent twenty. one years in the employ of one man. Reaching the I'nited States he located at Lockport, Ill., spending some years in the employ of John Fiddyment. He then engaged in farming for himself, first as a renter and later as the owner of real estate. The brothers and sisters of our subject are: William, whose home is in Florence, Will County; Mrs. Sarah Faulkner of Wilmington, this county ; Edward. an engineer in the wire works at Lockport; Samuel, an engineer in Joliet; Mrs. Mary Dickson of Lock. port; Albert lives m Wilmington; George and Henry reside in Florence.
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C HARLES F. BLOOD. This gentleman needs little introduction to the people of Will County, as he has long been recognized as one of the leading men of Joliet. He is universally popular in both social and business circles and is possessed of more than ordinary ability, together with the energy and enterprise which seklom fails to win. After filling many positions of trust and responsibility in connection with the city fire de- partment. he was promoted to the rank of Chief of Police, which office he hekl until June, 1890.
A native of the Empire State, Mr. Blood was born in Aurora. Erie County, February 11, 1811, and is a son of Horace and Nancy ( Fairbanks) Blood, who were natives of Putnam, Vt., and were of Scotch extraction, the father born in 1801 and the mother iu 1808. They spent their childhood and youth in the place of their birth and there, also, in 1828. they were married. Horace Blood was a harness-maker by trade but, in 1834, upon leaving the Green Mountain State, emigrated to New York and engaged in farming. He served with distinction in the Patriot War and was prom- inent in local affairs, serving as School Treasurer and Commissioner and occupying other positions of trust. Sojourning in New York State until 1869 the father of our subject then deciding to push on further westward, emigrated to Jasper County, Ind., where he followed farming until his death, in Sep- tember, 1889. He was a good man in the broadest
sense of the term and made for himself an honora- ble record for integrity and usefulness. The mother departed this life at the old homestead in Indiana, in 1887. Eleven children comprised the parental family, embracing four sons and seven daughters.
Mr. Blood was the second son of his parents, and at the breaking out of the Civil War enlisted when only a youth of seventeen years in the Tenth New York Cavalry. He gave a faithful service of three years to his country, serving under Gens. Stone- man. Pleasanton and Sheridan, in Kilpatrick's Bri- gade. He was with the latter at the capture of Pickett's Division and fought at Gettysburg and Antietam, following the army of the Potomac in all of its great movements and when it covered itself with glory. At Trevilian Station, Va., he was wounded in the foot, but not so seriously as to prevent his continuance with his regiment. IIc endured with fortitude the various hardships and privations of army life, and at the expiration of his term of service received an honorable discharge.
Returning now to his old home in New York State, Mr. Blood resumed his studies in the acad- emy, where he remained one year. He then came to this county, locating in Plaintield in 1868 and engaged in butchering. Later he went to his father's home in Indiana where he sojourned two years. In the meantime he was married, June 29, 1871, to Miss Caroline Foncannon. This lady was born in Montezuma, Ind., in 1818, and was the daughter of an old soldier of the late war who gave up his life for his country. Immediately after marriage the young couple came to Joliet and Mr. Blood became the employe of .I. D. Paige in the bottling works, where he continued until 1879.
Being called upon now to discharge the duties of Assistant Township Assessor of Joliet Township, Mr. Blood entered upon the duties of this position which he held three years. Next he was made en- gineer of the City Fire Department and was thus ocenpied until the spring of 1888. Still advanc- ing, he was next appointed Chief of Police, and in- troduced many reforms in connection with the force, which under his supervision inereased in numbers and efficiency. At the close of his police duties, in June, 1890, he formed a partnership with T. P. Houghton, and commenced dealing in coal,
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JACOB SPAULDING.
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coke, ete. His business headquarters are at No. 731, Washington Street, and his patrons are num- bered among the leading residents of the city.
To Mr. and Mrs. Blood there has been born a family of six interesting children, the eldest of whom. a son. Harry, died when four years old. The survivors are Otto. Ernest, Christine, Horace and Myra. They occupy a snug home on Bluff Street and enjoy the association of many friends. Mr. Blood belongs to Lodge No. 23, I. O. O. F. at Lockport, and Bartleson Post, No. 6, G. A. R. at doliet, also Lodge No. 2. U. V. U. at Joliet.
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ACOB SPAULDING is distinguished as being the oldest living pioneer of Wheat- land Township, where he has made his home for nearly half a century, and it gives us pleasure not only to record his life in this volume. but also to present his portrait on the opposite page. Ile is a farmer and stock-raiser, carrying on his business at his well-appointed farm on section 21. so as to derive a good income therefrom, and. free from the necessity of constant labor that beset his early years, he can enjoy the fruits of a well-spent life as it declines toward its close.
Mr. Spaulding was born in Norfolk County, England. August 23. 1810, to JJacob and Mary Spaulding, who were also natives of that country. The early years of his life were spent in the land of his nativity, and he was reared as a farmer and laborer, receiving but few advantages in the line of education while he remained on his native soil. After coming to this country he attended the evening schools in this State, and acquired the rudiments of an education. In 1836 he took his life and fortunes in his own hands and cmigrated to America, taking passage at Yarmouth on a sail- ing-vessel, and after a voyage of eight weeks and four days landing in Quebec, Canada. He did not, however, make a lengthy stay in the Queen's domin ion, but grossed the border to Jefferson County, N. Y.
After working there as a farm hand for a few months, Mr. Spaulding then took up his residence
in Onondaga County. He was there for some three years, working as a farm hand, and in 1810 sought the pioneer State of Illinois. He hired out here for the first summer, but the next summer, being more independent, he began farming on shares. Ile was thus engaged for two seasons, and finally settled on his present farm in 1841. This he had purchased the year before from the Govern- ment, paying $1.25 an acre for the eighty acres that then comprised his homestead. When he settled on it the surrounding country was very sparsely inhabited, and his farm was in a lonely place, there being no other house between it and Plainfield. A furrow had not been turned on the land, and our subject had to begin at the very beginning and evolve his farm from the wild prairie, the land being just as the Indians had left it.
A great deal of pioneer work has been accom- plished by the systematic labor of Mr. Spaulding, and under his skillful hand the farm has become finely improved; he has added to its acreage until he now has one hundred and sixty acres of as fer- tile and finely tilled farming land as may be found in the township. Here he and his wife have built up a substantial home, supplied with all the nec- essities and comforts of life. To this good woman who presides over his household, Mr. Spaulding was united in marriage January 1, 1818. Mrs. Spaulding's maiden name was Jane Vinson, and she was born in Cornwall County, England, Febru- ary 13, 1827. Her parents were William and Mary (Corry ) Vinsen, natives of England. In 1833, when Mrs. Spaulding was in her sixth year, she accompanied her parents to America, sailing from Bedford, and after a voyage of eleven weeks land- ing on Prince Edward Island. On the very next trip of the vessel in which their journey had been made, she sank about a half mile from Charlotte- town. Prince Edward Island, but another ship resened her passengers. The family lived on the Island until 1814, and in that year came to Illinois and resided in Kendall County for a short time. To Mr. and Mrs. Spaulding have been born ten children, six of whom are still living-Martha. wife of Lansing Lockwood; Edmund; Flora, wife of lugh Lemmer; Cora. wife of Lewis Harford;
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Frank; and Nina E., wife of James Peck. The names of the deceased children are: Jacob W., Mary P., Richard W. and Charles H.
Coming here when in the prime of a vigorous manhood, and having passed so many of the years of his life here, Mr. Spaulding is well known and is greatly esteemed, his reputation for veracity, integrity, and unostentatious piety being of the highest. As School Director and as Librarian of the Library, which positions he has held for several years, educational matters have received careful attention from him. He was at one time Pound Master. Ile and his wife are among the most res- pected members of the Baptist Church, and lead consistent Christian lives.
OIN FRIDLEY. This gentleman is one of those residents of Florence Township whose position demonstrates the ability which as farmers and financiers have marked their lives. Beginning his worldly career as a poor man on rented land, he has accumulated a large share of this world's goods, including a fine tract of two hundred and thirty-seven acres of productive land. It is situated on section 9, and attracts more than a passing glance from the passer-by on account of the large barns and other good out- buildings that adorn it, the neatness and order manifested in all its parts, and the homelike and well built residence, under whose roof one is sure that geniality and good cheer abound,
Mr. Fridley was born in Switzerland, in Febru- ary, 1822, and is a son of Jacob and Mary Frid- ley, who spent their entire lives in that romantic land. The family is of German stock, as are most of the residents of the section of Switzerland in which they lived. lle of whom we write is the sixth child of a family of nine sons and daughters. In his native land he was reared and remained un- til he was thirty-three years okl. He then em- barked for America accompanied by his bride, and made his home in Joliet for a few months. In 1856 he removed to Reed's Grove, Jackson Town- ship, where he prosecuted his labors until 1870, at
which time be removed to the farm he now oceu- pies. On this tract of land he has made the ex- cellent improvements that mark it as the home of a man of energy and good judgment.
The lady who on November 28, 1855, became the wife of our subject, was known in her maiden- hood as Miss Mary Yonker. She was born in Switzerland in 1829, and still lives to enjoy with husband and children the comforts earned by years of industry and prudence. The only son of our subject and his wife is John F., who on January 4, 1884, married Miss Mattie A. Yonker, of Mor- ris; he remains at the old home assisting his father in the care of the estate. The only daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fridley is Mary A. This lady on October 14, 1885, became the wife of Benjamin Yonker, of Morris, a half brother of her sister in- law. They are now living on a farm in the same township as her parents. The vote and influence of Mr. Fridley was given to the Republican party in whose principles he is a firm believer. lle be- longs to the Evanglical Church. Not only by his associate members, but by all to whom he is known, he is respected for his uprightness and ability, while the members of his family are likewise re- garded with favor by their acquaintance.
ITZ J. ROBINS, one of the oldest settlers of Wheatland, did good service as a pio- neer of the county in the early years of its settlement, actively assisting in the development of its rich agricultural resources, and is now enjoying the fruits of his early labors in his pleasant home, tinely located on section 27, on one of the best cultivated farms in the township.
Mr. Robins is an Enghshman by birth, his native place being on the Isle of Wight in the English Channel, where he was born October 2, 1826, to James and Sarah (Ilolly) Robins. His paternal grandfather was Joseph Robins.
The subject of this sketch is the fourth child in his father's family, and passed the early years of his childhood on his native isle, remaining an in- mate of the parental household till his sixteenth
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year. He was then apprenticed to a general car- perter and wagon- maker in Devonshire, England. and had served for two years to learn the trade. Ambitious to see something more of life and to visit this country, of which he had heard so much, thinking that his prospeets of earning something more than a mere livelihood would be better here than in the land of his birth, he emigrated to the United States in 1843, taking passage at South- ampton on a sailing vessel. and after a voyage of about five weeks. landing in New York City. He eame directly to Illinois and for a short time worked at his trade in Chicago. Observing the many advantages that the remarkably fertile soil of Illinois gave to the farmer, he abandoned his calling to give attention to agricultural pursuits, and in the fall of 1845, located on his present farm. This was at the time in a wild condition, he being the first white man to locate on it. His first work was to erect a small frame house, one and one half story in height and 16x26 feet in dimensions, which he made his home for a number of years. In 1871 he remodeled and added to it and made his pres- ent commodious, conveniently arranged dwelling. Ilis farm comprises one hundred and twenty-five acres of land, which he has placed under good cul- tivation and has supplied with excellent improve- ments.
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