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 76
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C HARLES C. SMITH. It is a pleasure to incorporate in this volume a sketch of the life and labors of C. C. Smith, of Channahon, and to present on the opposite page his portrait, together with that of his estimable wife. He is well and widely known as the possessor of a large landed estate, is considered one of the best business men in the county, and looked up to for his finan- cial ability and the many pleasing traits of charac- ter which he possesses. So wide is his hospitality that he may be said to keep an open house, wherein cordial greeting and good entertainment for mind and body are met with. In his domestic relations Mr. Smith is exceptionally affectionate and liberal, and he is well repaid by the culture and noble characters of his offspring for the advantages which he has bestowed upon them.
The birthplace of Mr. Smith was Jefferson County, East Tenn., and his natal day May 2. 1818. His parents, Barton and Faithy ( Moore) Smith. were the children of Revolutionary soldiers. The Smiths were of the old Tennessee and the Moores 1 of the old Virginia stock, and both lines of English ancestry. Barton Smith was the youngest in a family of six boys and three girls. All his brothers were present at the battle of Horse Shoe Bend with Gen. Jackson, and he himself, had started to
join the forces, and was several hundred miles from home when taken back by his friends.
Mr. and Mrs. Barton Smith removed from Ten- nessee to Fountain County, Ind., and early in lune, 1835, settled in Joliet, Ill. Mr. Smith bought a lot, upon which a little log house stood, and here in due course of time he made a good home. He carried on a farm, but continued to reside in Joliet until his death, in 1862. He was Police Magistrate and Deputy County Collector, and in various ways served the county. His wife survived him about thirteen years. Their family consisted of four children, our subject being the eldest and the only one now surviving. Melinda became the wife of William Walters, and both she and her husband are now deceased, leaving a fam- ily; Lucinda married Thomas Hunter, and they died leaving two children; William J. made his home at Geneseo, and when called hence left a family of six children.
Charles C. Smith was eight years of age when his parents removed to Indiana, and in Fountain County much of his boyhood and youth were spent. When the family removed to Joliet the young man started out as a peddler, making a regular trip through Cook, Iroquois, Vermilion and Will Counties with a wagon, and visiting the differ- ent localities every six weeks. In those days there was but little money in circulation, and barter and exchange was the rule. Young Smith traded his goods for everything on which he could place a valne -- cattle, horses, hides, tallow, butter, eggs. coon skins and ginseng root. These he would take to Chicago and trade for more goods. This occu- pation he followed for nine years, becoming well known and having his coming looked forward to by householders as an event of importance.
The next business enterprise of Mr. Smith was to rent the tract, of land upon which he now lives, and to collect all the stock which he owned along the route from Danville hither. He paid $5 per year for a tract of land upon which thirty- five acres had been broken and where a comfortable house had been built. Two years later, in 1850. he bought the one hundred and forty acres which he was cultivating, and to which he has since added largely. For many years he herded his cattle on
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the open prairie. He has now twenty-nine hun- dred and fifty acres of land, all joining, but some lying within the boundary of Wilmington Town- ship. For many years he was connected with the creamery, and he also had a State contract to fur- nish the State Prison with beef for eight years. During one year of this time the value of the meat furnished was $35,000.
On July 24, 1850, that being the year in which he purchased his home, Mr. Smith was united in wedlock with Miss Corenza Burr. This estimable lady is a daughter of Warham and Nancy (Cum- mings) Burr. natives of New York and North Carolina respectively. Mr. Burr was a school teacher during his earlier life, but eventually be- came the occupant of a farm in Jackson's Grove, this county, where he died September 6, 1861, his wife following him to the tomb seven months later. Mrs. Burr was a daughter of William and Sarah (Hunt) Cummings, with whom she lived until her marriage, which took place in the Hoosier State. The Burrs afterward removed to Cook County, in 1833, first settling eight miles above Wilmington, now Will County, afterward removing to the vil- lage, and thence onto the farm. They were the parents of ten children, four of whom lived to maturity. These are: Mrs. Smith, of this sketch; Sarah, wife of Lemuel Short, of Grundy County; Ira, now a resident of Kansas; and Selina C., wife of Charles J. Longemire, of Kansas City, Mo. One member of the family was killed in the battle of Chickamauga, Tenn., during the first day's fight, his body being left on the field. lle and Mr. Longemire belonged to the same regiment-the One Hundredth Illinois Infantry.
The family of Mr. and Mrs. Smith is made up of ten sons and daughters, all living but one who died in infancy-Barton, the oldest, is a member of the law firm of Baker, Smith & Baker, of Toledo, Ohio; he married Miss May Scarles, and they have two children-Clifford Charles and Mildred; Emma .J. is the wife of Herman Unland. of Hutchinson, Kan., and the mother of three children-Corintha C., Lloyd Barton and Bloss Chester; William T. is in the real-estate business in Minneapolis, Minn. ; he is married and has four children-Winfred William, Ethel May, Ruth and an infant; the
maiden name of his wife was Mary II. Fowler; Ella May is the wife of Wallace B. Donglas, a lawyer of Moorehead, Minn., and they have two children-Harold M. and Leila Louise; Charles W. now occupies one of his father's farms; he married Margaret A. Miller, and has one son-Charles Claibourne; Lucy M., wife of Frank A. Miller, of "Joliet; Cora Ada is the wife of Dr. H. F. Ilicks, a dentist of Joliet; Eva Sarah is yet at home; Floyd Herman is now attending school. All have colle- giate educations except the younger members of the family, who will receive the same advantages in due time.
Mr. Smith is a Democrat, and was elected on the party ticket for Supervisor of the town. He has also held as many minor offices as he would take, but his large business has precluded his holding them at all times. He is prominent in the lodges of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and Masonie fraternity, having been connected with the former order for forty-seven years, and the latter for thirty years. He was the first member . initiated in each of the lodges to which he belongs. They are Powhan Lodge, No. 29, I. O. O. F., and Channahon Lodge, No. 262, F. & A. M. He has helped to institute a number of other lodges.
2 ATIIAN BENNETT. The record of Nath- an Bennett is one to which he can point with just pride as that of an excellent cit- izen, a faithful workman, a kind friend and an affec- tionate member of the family circle. He is of English birth and parentage, his early days having been spent in Midland where his eyes opened to the light in 1845. Ilis parents were Samuel and Margaret (Ashley) Bennett, and the former was an engineer in the employ of the Crown, continuing an honorable service until his death.
The gentleman of whom we write was reared in the manner usual to the son of an artisan and after acquiring his education, learned the trade of pud- dling, in the government service. In 1868 he came to America selecting St. Louis as his first abiding place. There he was engaged in the Brem-
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en Mills for some months, after which he came to Jolie:, Ill., and entered the employ of the Joliet Steel Works. In 1873, he began assisting in the manufacture of steel, at which he has continued until the present time, a period of twenty-one years-a record that could only be made by sobri- ety and faithfulness. In addition to this Mr. Ben- nett is engaged in connection with the firm of Demart Bennett in an extensive trade in fine car- riages, their place of business being No. 210 North Ottawa Street.
The dwelling that Mr. Bennett owns and occupies on Mississippi Avenue is presided over by a lady who became his wife in 1867. She was known in her maidenhood as Miss Mary Ann Guy, and is a woman of worth of mind and heart. The happy union has been blessed by the birth of six children, named respectively. Sarah Ann, Albert Edward, Edith, Mabel, Marion, and Robert Arson. Mr. Bennett is devotedly attached to his home as well he may be.
The Amalgamated Society has repeatedly made Mr. Bennett its President and he has been the Treasurer of the Society of St. George since its or- ganization, having been a charter member. Ile also belongs to the Knights of Pythias Lodge, No. 36. lle is numbered among the members of the Ottawa Street Methodist Episcopal Church.
IMON HAUSSER. As a contractor in stone work, Mr. Ilausser is well known throughout Will County, in which be has operated extensively in his line, and has proved himself a man prompt to meet bis obliga- tions, and one who can always be trusted. He ful- filled a contract of stone work on the Alton Round- house, the County Jail, St. John's Catholic Church, the St. Joseph's Hospital and Convent, and for many of the prominent residences of Joliet and vicinity. Ilis long experience and close attention to business, together with his industry and a sens- ible economy, bave placed him financially in a po- sition of independence.
The early home of our subject was in the king-
dom of Bavaria, where he was born April 13, 1819. Ile is the son of George and Eva (Nied- hammer) Hausser, the former of whom was a stone mason, as was also his father before him. George Hausser spent his entire life in his native land. dying in 1816. The mother came to America in May, 1851, and died at the home of her son Simon, in Joliet, September 15, 1854. The paren- tal family consisted of ten chiklren, seven of whom emigrated to America, and only four of the seven are now living-one in New York, one in New Jer- sey, and two in Joliet.
Mr. Hausser learned the trade of a mason in his native country, Bavaria, remaining there until 1847. Then, a man of twenty-eight years, he resolved upon emigrating to America, and embarked upon the long voyage in company with a younger brother. They landed in New York City, where Simon sojourned about two years, working at Port Jarvis, N. Y., going from there to Lyons, N. Y., and thence to Batavia, Ill. We next find him in Aurora, this State, whence he emigrated to Joliet in 1819, arriving Angust 15.
In Joliet Mr. Hausser worked at his trade for a time, and then, desirous of seeing more of the country, went down to New Orleans. He only so- journed, however, for a brief time in the Crescent City, deciding that there were few more desirable locations than the city of Joliet, to which he ac- cordingly returned, and has since made it his home.
In Joliet also Mr. Hansser found a wife and help- mate, being married, November 22, 1853, to Miss Francisca Horn. Mrs. Hansser was born October 23, 1832, in Neukirchen, Bavaria, and came to .Joliet with friends in 1853. Of this union there have been born twelve children, ten of whom are living. Mary, Mrs. Hagen. is a widow and resides in Joliet; Teresa, Mrs. Steiner, and George are living in Joliet; Anna remains with her parents; Charles is an ordained priest of the Catholic Church, and otliciates as assistant priest of Column- bia Church, in Ottawa, Ill .; Joseph, who has also received priestly orders, is an assistant priest. sta- tioned over the parish of the Holy Trinity Church. Chicago; Caroline and Alphonso remain under the parental roof ; Simon and Henry are pursuing their
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studies in St. Francis College, at St. Francis, Wis.
Mr. and Mrs. Hausser have also an adopted son, Alexander, an orphan, who has made his home with them for about four years. It is a matter of great satisfaction to Mr. Ilausser that two of his sons are priests in the Catholic Church. in the doctrines of which he himself was trained from boyhood, and also that two other sons are likely to choose the same pious calling for their vocation in life. Mr. llausser has been connected with the church since his boy hood, and belongs to the Third order of St. Francis. In politics he is mainly independent, aiming to support the men whom he considers best quali- fied for office. As a business man and a citizen, he has made for himself a good record, and enjoys in a marked degree the esteem of those around . him. He is mostly retired from active business, and occupies a comfortable home, situated on a rise of ground on Broadway Street, overlooking a large portion of the city.
AMES B. AUSTIN. This gentleman bears the reputation of being one of the most public-spirited citizens of Ilomer Township, and he is closely identified with its agricult- ural interests, successfully tilling one hundred and fifty acres of land on section 11. and in addition to this makes a specialty of fine Norman horses. For the past nine years he has officiated as Highway Commissioner and School Director,and may always be found on the side of the enterprises calculated for the advancement of the community, socially, morally and financially. In politics he is a sonnd Republican, thoroughly in accord with the princi- ples of his party, which he has always labored earnestly to advance. He is more than ordinarily intelligent and well-informed, keeping up with the topics of the day, and in his social life has always distinguished himself as one of the most hospitable men of his neighborhood.
The subject of this notice was the eldest in a family of six children, and was born in Ontario County, N. Y., July 4, 1823. He lived with his parents until a boy of eight or nine years, then
went to live with his uncle, Ira Austin, with whom he remained until reaching his majority. When he was sixteen years old he came with his uncle to this county, and after becoming of age took up one hundred and sixty acres of land on section 11, where he built up the comfortable home which he now owns and occupies. He was married in Du Page Township November 19, 1851, to Miss Laura Saunders. The young people settled in their own home, where were born to them four children and where the mother died July 2, 1865. Their filst- born child, a son, William, died when about one year old; Albert remains at home with his father; Estella became the wife of William Orahood and died in llomer Township, December 1, 1879; Ly- man is a resident of Dakota.
Mr. Austin contracted a second marriage, in Ilomer Township, October 22, 1867, with Miss Betsey McGregor. This lady was born in Scotland, November 17, 1845, and when five years old came with her parents to America. The latter were Henry and Jeanette (Malcom) MeGregor, both of whom were also born in the Land of the Thistle, but are now residents of Cook County, this State. To Mr. Austin and his present wife there have been born nine children, viz: JJenny, who died when ten years old; Buell P .; Ira W., who died at the age of three years; Charles H., who died when four years old; James H., John McG., Homer C., Hattie J. and George W. The latter died when about four years old. Mrs. Austin is a member in good stand- ing of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In August, 1862, Mr. Austin entered the Union army, enlisted in company F, One Hundreth Illinois Infantry, and served two and one-half years, until February 1, 1865. ITis duties were mostly in the Quartermaster's department, and he consequently took part in no battles. lle belongs to Lockport Post, No. 401, G. A. R., at Lockport.
Lyman Austin, the father of our subject, was, like himself, a native of Ontario County, N. Y.,and married Miss Sarah llecock, who was also a native of that county. They lived there for a time after their marriage, then removed to Medma County, Ohio, and from there to Cass County, Mich. After a sojourn of some years in the Wolverine State they joined their son in Homer Township, this
Geo S. Heinckel
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county, and here spent their last days. They were honest and upright people and without making any great stir in the world performed life's duties in :1 ereditable manner and are kindly remembered by all who knew them.
G EORGE S. IHNCKEL. Among the rising young members of the legal profession in Joliet, may be properly mentioned the sub- ject of this notice, whose portrait appears on the opposite page, and who is yet in the early prime of life. He has before him bright prospects for wealth and honor, and in future years will undoubtedly stand high among the attorneys of Illinois, as he now hokls a conspicuous rank among those of Joliet.
The native place of Mr. Hinckel was the city of Al- bany, N. Y., and he was born July 6, 1860. Ilis im- mediate ancestors are Charles and Julia (Schwartz) Hinckel. the former a native of Germany and the latter of New York State. The father traced his lineage to a German family of distinction. and in his youth received a military education and train- ing, afterward serving in high official capacities in the German and American armies. Early in life he crossed the Atlantic, having determined upon mak- ing a home in the United States, and located in Al- bany, N. Y .. where he remained until 1874. That year he came to Illinois, and settling in Will County, soon became a prominent man in politics, alliliating with the Republican party. Soon after locating in Joliet, he was appointed. about 1876, Deputy Sheriff of Will County, and was subsequently elected Police Magistrate.
years. Ile was admitted to practice by the Supreme Court in December, 1887, but did not commence the regular duties of his profession until the 1st of November, 1889. He is a sound Republican, po- htically, and is also a prominent member of the military order of Sons of Veterans, and of the chief social organization, the Union Club.
Mr. Hinekel contracted his present matrimonial ties ,July 15, 1889, at the bride's home in Brooklyn, N. Y., with Miss Nellie J. Dobiecki. Mrs. Hinckel was born October 2, 1865, in Brooklyn, N. Y., and both she and her husband are connected by ties of relationship with some of the best known and most highly respected families of the East. They live in comfort in a neat home in the eastern part of the city. and number their friends among its cultured people.
OHN RANFT. There is scarcely a line of business that is not represented in Joliet, where commercial and manufacturing en- terprises seem equally prominent. The busi- ness in which the subject of this sketch is engaged is that of the manufacture of all kinds of soda water, ginger ale, and similar beverages, charging fountains, etc. His experience has been somewhat varied, but his career has proved that he is one of those men who can gain support where others would fail, because they could work at but one oc- cupation. Mr. Ranft eame from far across the sea, his birthplace having been Waldeck, Germany, where his eyes first opened to the light January 16. 1813. Ilis parents were John and Elizabeth (Schneider) Ranft, and his father's occupation was that of a farmer.
The subject of this notice was the only child of In his native land. he of whom we write, was employed as a domestic servant until 1866. when he determined to seck a different field in the land across the sea. Leaving behind him the other members of the family, none of whom have come to America, he took passage and ere long landed in New York. He found employment as a farm hand in New Jersey, receiving $15 per month for his services, and remaming in the East somewhat his parents and pursued his early studies in the private schools and academies of his native State. In 1874 he came to Chicago, where his studies were ended and his business career begun. In 1883 he located in Joliet, and, while serving as Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court, entered npon the study of the law, under the instruction of the eminent lawyer. George S. House, Esq. In the meantime he held the above mentioned office nearly five | over a year. He then came to Chicago and thence
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to Joliet, near which place he engaged in farming two years. Ile then entered the employ of the Sehring Brewing Company. serving them five and one-half years. The next enterprise in which he engaged was to open a saloon on Bluff and Jeffer- son Streets, which he carried on five years. In 1885 he opened a pop factory and since that time has busied himself with the manufacture of bever- ages as before stated.
On September 14, 1873, Mr. Ranft was united in marriage with Miss Katherine Metzger, who judi- cionsly managed his household affairs for several years. She was removed by the hand of death November 10, 1882, leaving one daughter, Anna. The present wife of Mr. Ranft bore the maiden name of Augusta Reimers, and is a daughter of Henry and: Anna (Eggers) Reimers. She was united to our subject October 25, 1883. and has borne him three daughters-Bertha, Mary and Linda.
Mr. Ranft generally votes the Democratic ticket. Ile is of a social nature, particularly so among his fellow country-men and finds many friends. He be- longs to the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, to the Sharp-shooters, and to the Joliet Saenger- bund.
HRISTOPH IHINZ. Washington Township has become the home and the field of the successful labors of many German-born citi- zens, whose thrift and uprightness are recognized by those around them and afford an excellent example to the rising generation. One of these worthy German-American citizens is Christoph Hinz, whose home is on section 19. The farm comprises one hundred and sixty aeres of well-tilled land which bears the improvements usually made by a man of enterprise and has been reclaimed by him from its wild and primitive condition. Ilis first purchase was of eighty acres to which he subsequently added an adjoining traet of the same extent.
Mr. Hinz is of excellent German ancestry, his immediate progenitors being John and Mary ( Biel- feldt) llinz, both of whom were born in Mecklen- burg. There the mother died in the forty-fourth
year of her age, leaving five sons and two daugh- ters. In 1855 father and children crossed the briny deep, leaving Hamburg September 15, and landing in New York City seven weeks later, their passage having been made on the sailing ship "Rudolph." The family came directly West and settled in Cook County, Ill., but some years later the father and his son Charles removed to Kansas City, Mo., where the father breathed his last in 1882, at the age of seventy-nine years. He was a worthy citizen and a consistent member of the Lutheran Church.
The subject of this biographical notice was born May 18, 1820, and was well reared in habits of in- dustry and firmness of moral principle, but without educational advantages. After the family came to America he continued to reside in Cook County for eight years, and in 1865 removed from Dunkard's Station to Washington Township, this county. Here he has been engaged in general farming, and has become known as a good farmer, a reliable citizen and a man of kindliness in domestic and social relations.
The first marriage of Mr. Ilinz took place in the land of his nativity. to Miss Elizabeth Shelt. To them were born two sons, Henry and John, before they accompanied the other members of the Hinz family to the United States. They had been in Chicago but eleven days when the wife died, at the early age of thirty-eight years. Iler son Henry quarried Dora Ostermeyer and is engaged in trade at Beecher, this county; John married Mary Starter and is farming in Washington Township.
The second marriage of Mr. Hinz took place in Cook County, his bride being Miss Magdalena Bade, who was born in Mecklenburg, Germany, April 12, 1832. Her parents were Jacob and So- phia (Hein) Bade. Her father was a laborer who died at the age of fifty two years. The widowed mother with her six children crossed the Atlantic in 1857 and made her home in Northern Illinois. In her last days she came to live with her daughter, Mrs. Bade, dying at her home in 1887, at the ad- vaneed age of eighty-four years and three months. She and her husband had belonged to the Lutheran Church.
The present union of Mr. Hinz has resulted in the birth of three children: Sophia, Bertha and
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Herman. Sophia married William Meyer, and died leaving five children; Bertha became the wife of Charles Henget, a mechanic, whose home is in At- lington lleights, Cook County; Herman remains with his parents. Mr. and Mrs. Hinz belong to the Lutheran Church, and their children are also iden- tified with that religions body. The elective fran- chise is excreised by Mr. lliuz in behalf of the candidates of the Republican party. Mr. Hinz is a fine specimen of physical manhood of the Ger- man type, and he possesses sterling qualities of character, being particularly noted for his honesty, and straightforward manner and dealing.
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