The Biographical record of Kane County, Illinois, Part 11

Author: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 798

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eighty-four years of age he was still quite active and strong, and had a good memory. He was never seriously ill until eighty years of age, owing probably to his temperate habits. He was always a quiet, unosten- tatious man, but his fellow citizens recog. nized his true worth, and elected him to a number of township offices. Very consci- entious and strictly honorable in all his deal- ings, he became widely and favorably known, and had many warm friends. His death oc- curred November 14, 1897, and his remains were laid to rest beside those of his loved companion, who preceded him to their heavenly home. In his death one more of that number of heroic men who located in Kane county in pioneer days was called to his reward. His familiar figure will no more go in and out among us, but of him it can be truthfully said, "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, for they shall rest from their labor and their works do fol- low them."

FRANCIS B. PERKINS, secretary of the school board of the city of Elgin, is a native of Illinois, born in Barrington, Cook county, July 8, 1841, and is a representa- tive of one of the honored pioneer families of the state, his parents, Thomas and Eliz- abeth (Proctor) Perkins, both of sturdy Puritan ancestry, having left their home in Essex, Massachusetts, and locating in Bar- rington in 1838, then an almost unbroken wilderness. They at once identified them- selves with the religious and educational in- terests of the community, and helped to shape the early influences in the right di- rection. In their pioneer log house was taught one of the first schools of the town- ship, and often religious meetings were held in the same place. The colporteur and

itinerant preacher of whatever creed always found a welcome, and in consequence of their open door for such guests it gained the name of Deacon's Tavern. Their first church home was with the Congregational church at Elgin, six miles away, whence they made their way on the Sabbath over prairie and through woodland on foot or by the slow-going ox wagon. Later they were charter members of the Dun- dee Congregational church, and still later of the church at Barrington, near their own farm home. They were pronounced in their views on temperance and slavery and gave all possible aid to all reforms. Their home was often the haven of rest to the black man on his way to Canada and free- dom, and it was one of the many where was fostered that spirit of loyalty to the govern- ment and right that a generation later bore fruitage in an army of a million men who sprang to arms to maintain our free institu- tions. The father died in 1857 aged fifty- six years, his life no doubt shortened by the hardships incident to making a home under the adverse circumstances of a new county. He held honorably the office of deacon of the church for many years and though never prominent in politics was ever ready to bear his share of the responsibilities of citizen- ship. He had acquired a comfortable com- petence when he was called to lay down his life work, but the most precious legacy left his family was an unsullied name. His wife Elizabeth survived him some years, during which time she lived in Elgin, passing away in 1881 at the age of seventy-five years. She was a woman of heroic mold and the privation incident to the rough life of a new country served to bring into action the best and bravest of her nature. As in most homes transplanted from the refinements of

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the east, the mother felt .most keenly the a part of General Curtis' command, in which limited advantages for schooling that the future seemed to promise, and no toil or effort was too great so that educational ad- vantages might be provided for the family growing up about her. A like spirit was in other homes of this region and no wonder that our present splendid school system came into existence ..

The subject of this sketch is one of a family of seven children of whom four reached adult age. Three brothers died in early life. Elizabeth married Rev. John V. Downs, a pioneer Presbyterian minister of Illinois, and died at the age of sixty. John Proctor was for many years a con- ductor on the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, now retired from active business, resides at Rockford, Illinois. Lydia Choate married Dr. Edgar Winchester, who was for a number of years a physician of large practice in Elgin, and, later, of San Ber- nardino, California, where he died and where she now resides.

The first sixteen years of his life Francis B. Perkins spent upon the farm home, thence after his father's death coming to Elgin to live with his mother, when for three years he attended the Elgin Academy, preparatory to entering Beloit College of Wisconsin, where he was pursuing his stud- ies at the outbreak of the war. In August, 1861, at the first call for three-years men Mr. Perkins enlisted in Company A, Thirty-sixth Illinois Infantry Volunteers, and at once took the field with his regiment. In the campaign early in 1862, under the command of General Curtis, ending in the decisive bat- tle of Pea Ridge and the expulsion of armed Confederates from the state of Missouri, he bore his share in the vicissitudes of camp march and battle field. About June 1, 1862,

was the Thirty-sixth Illinois, was hurried to strengthen the lines in front of Corinth, Mississippi, where it arrived just before its evacuation. About this time he was trans- ferred to Company K, Fifty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, remaining a member of that regiment till the close of his service, though on detached duty the last part in the Topographical Engineer Corps. In this branch of the service he took part in the Atlanta campaign under General Sherman, during the summer of 1864. After the fall of Atlanta, his term of enlistment having ex- pired, he was honorably discharged from the arıny and came home. After a few months of study in Bryant's Commercial College in Chicago, he again entered the service of the government in the quartermaster's depart- inent, as draughtsman and clerk, and was located at Columbus, Kentucky, Alexandria, Virginia, and Little Rock, Arkansas, remain- ing until the winding up of affairs by reason of the close of the war. During the season of 1866 he engaged in cotton planting on the Arkansas river bottoms, and was for- tunately one of the few who found it a pay- ing venture. In the fall of 1868 he entered the employ of the Elgin National Watch Co., and worked for them twenty years. Seventeen years he was a foreman of a de- partinent and many valuable improvements in the manufacture of watches were made and introduced by him during this time.

In 1869 he married Mary E. Raymond, a daughter of an early settler, Augustine Raymond. She was educated at the Elgin Academy and at eastern schools and was assistant principal of the Elgin High School at the time of their marriage.

She was an active worker in the Con- gregational church of which she was a mem-

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ber and an efficient and faithful Sunday- years of age. The paternal grandfather, school teacher. She died in 1873, leaving one son, Thomas E., now twenty-five years old, a musician by profession. His musical education was obtained under teachers at home and in Chicago and completing and graduating from the Metropolitan College of Music in New York City in 1897. He is now organist at the church of the Pilgrims, Brooklyn, New York.

Mr. Perkins has been a member of the First Congregational church since his sixteenth year, serving the church at different times in the offices of clerk, trustee and deacon, which office he now holds.

He is a member of the Grand Army of the Republic and is actively interested in all that the organization stands for. He is also secretary of the 52d Illinois Veteran Volun- . teer Association and is ever ready to help and encourage his former comrades in arms.

The influence of the forty years spent in the community where he now lives has al- ways been found on the side of right and order and he has taken an active part in promoting those measures which he believes calculated to advance the educational, moral, and material welfare of his city.

E ZRA HANSON, deceased, was for many years one of the honored and highly- respected citizens of Elgin. He was born in Lebanon, Maine, April 22, 1806, a son of John B. and Dorcas (Libby) Hanson, also natives of the Pine Tree state, in whose family were fifteen children, six of whom reached years of maturity, the others dying either in infancy or early childhood. The father, who was a saddler and harnessmaker by trade, died in the east at about the age of fifty years, and his wife when forty-eight

who was of English extraction, was a ship- builder of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and was killed while launching one of his vessels.

In his native state Ezra Hanson grew to manhood, and on the 5th of September, 1833, he was united in marriage with Miss Catherine Kimball Upton, who traced her ancestry back to one of the earliest families in America, its founder being John Upton, who was born in 1620, and came to New England in 1639 or a short time previous. He became one of the prominent citizens of Salem, Massachusetts, served as constable, was otherwise prominently identified with the growth and development of Salem, and died July 11, 1699. His son William was born in Salem, June 10, 1663, and died in 1739 or 1740. He and his brother received the Woodhill and other land in Salem from their father. Paul Upton, the son of Will- iam, was born in 1709, and was the father of Ezra and grandfather of David Upton, who was Mrs. Hanson's father. The last named was born in Danvers, Massachusetts, in 1772, and died in August, 1836; his wife bore the maiden name of Hepzibah Flint.

In 1837 Mr. Hanson came west, and first located on a farm near Sycamore, De- Kalb county; Illinois. In 1843 he removed to Burlington, Kane county, and in 1854 came to Elgin, and made this place his home until called to the world beyond, June 15, 1890. Although he was a member of no religious denomination, he regularly at- tended the services of the Baptist church, and called himself an " outside deacon." A man of sterling integrity and strictly hon- est, he helped many to a better, nobler and higher life, and he was both widely and fa- vorably known throughout Kane county.

EZRA HANSON.

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He was of a genial and jovial disposition, eight years in St. Johns, New Brunswick, and was a great hand to tell jokes.

Mrs. Hanson, who was born in North Reading, Massachusetts, August 20, 1812, died in Elgin March 28, 1876. She was a devout member of the Baptist church, led a blameless and noble life, devoting most of her time to the interests of her family. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Hanson were as follows: Joseph H., born October 16, 1835, was an attorney, who died in Elgin August 14, 1892; Mary Upton, born Janu- ary 10, 1839, in Sycamore, Illinois, is one of the highly-respected citizens of Elgin; Edward, born in Sycamore November 15, 1840, died September 9, 1841; Daniel King, born in Campton, Illinois, October 5, 1844, died in Burlington, Kane county, July 29, 1845.

G EORGE H. KNOTT, who is now successfully engaged in the grocery · daughter, but only two are now living- business at No. 482 Park street, Elgin, be- gan his earthly career in Leicester, England, Reared in Chicago, George H. Knott attended the old Fort Dearborn school, later pursued his studies in a private school con- ducted in the Methodist church, on Jeffer- son street, in that city, and after coming to Elgin, completed his education in the Elgin high school, under the direction of Professor Francis F. Haywood. He had clerked in a number of stores in Chicago before coming to Elgin in 1859, and with the exception of the time spent in the army and one year passed in Philadelphia, he has since been identified with the mercantile interests of this city. February 8, 1838, and in that place his parents, John P. and Eliza (Knott) Knott, were also born. The paternal grandfather spent his entire life in England, but the maternal grandfather, Thomas Knott, came to America in 1844, and located in Camp- ton township, Kane county, Illinois. Later he removed to Chicago, where his wife died, and he subsequently made his home for a number of years in Mishwaukee, Indi- ana. He was a turner by trade, and con- · tinued to work at the turning lathe until eighty-three years of age. He died two years later in Turner Junction, Illinois. In his family were six children.

John P. Knott, our subject's father, was a shoemaker by trade. In early life he came to the new world, but after spending

he returned to England. However, he again crossed the Atlantic in 1842, and after living for a short time in Campton, Kane county, Illinois, he located in Chicago, and for ten or twelve years conducted a shoe store at No. 9 Dearborn street. Later he spent three or four years at No. 67 Ran- dolph street, and from there removed to West Madison street, but in 1859 he sold out and came to Elgin, where he continued to make his home until his death. Here he was engaged in the grocery business until his store was destroyed by fire in 1865, after which he lived retired. He died in 1876, aged sixty-seven years, and his wife passed away in June, 1895, at the age of eighty-three. Both were earnest~and con- sistent members of the Baptist church, and were highly esteemed by all who knew them. Their family numbered six sons and one George H. and Wallace H., both of Elgin.

In August, 1862, Mr. Knott enlisted in Company C, One Hundred and Twenty- seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and after serving for two years with that regi- ment he was detached and was with the con-

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solidated A and B Battery until the close of the war. He took part in the battles of Chickasaw Bayou, Arkansas Post and Nash- ville, the siege of Vicksburg, the Atlanta campaign, and many minor engagements, and on the 22d of July, 1864, when Gen- eral McPherson fell, he was taken prisoner, being confined in Andersonville for sixty-one days.

Mr: Knott went to Philadelphia in 1865, but the following year returned to Elgin, where he clerked in a grocery store until 1870, when he embarked in the same busi- ness on his own account in partnership with John Cox, under the firm style of Cox & Knott. At the end of five years Mr. Cox withdrew and our subject continued the business alone for the same length of time, but at the end of that period sold out. Two years later he began dealing in coal oil, which business he carried on for seven years, but for the past. thirteen years has again been interested in the grocery trade, con- ducting a store for some time on Chicago street, but now carries on operations at his home place, No. 482 Park street, where he has a neat store stocked with a fine grade of goods.

On the 8th of July, 1860, Mr .: Knott was united in marriage to Miss Mary E. An- drews, an adopted daughter of David E. Ambrose, and to them were born two chil- dren -- Lillie M., now the wife of Walter Middleton,, by whom she has one son, Walter; and Emma E., wife of Charles J. Reynolds, of Beloit, Wisconsin, by whom she has seven children. Mrs. Knott, who was a faithful member of the Baptist church, died in 1871, and for his second wife our subject chose Josephine Tourtellotte, who died fifteen months after her marriage. She, too, was a Baptist in religious belief. Mr.

Knott was again married October 19, 1875, his third union being with Mrs. Elizabeth Sears, and two sons have been born to them -George R. and Leon S.

Politically, Mr. Knott is identified with the Republican party; socially belongs to Veteran post, No. 49, G. A. R. ; and relig- iously is a member of the Baptist church, while his present wife is connected with the Methodist church. They have many warm friends throughout the community, and they justly deserve the high regard in which they are held by all who know them.

E ELISHA DUNBAR WALDRON has for many years been one of the conspicu- ous business men of Elgin, in which city he was born January 27, 1848. His father, Andrew J. Waldron, came west in 1842, and after a brief residence in Batavia made El- gin his permanent home (1845), living for many years on the present site of "The Spurling," where the subject of this sketch first opened his eyes to the light of day.

The father was a native of Vermont and his wife, Calista S. (Smith) Waldron, was born in New York. They were the parents of three children: Martha, now the wife of Joseph Vollor; E. Dunbar; and Bertha, wife of Dr. W. G. Stone, all living in Elgin. The Waldron family traces its ancestry to Coventry, England, and the first of the name to come to America was George Wal- dron, who landed at Boston in 1670. The name of Andrew J. Waldron is indelibly stamped upon the pioneer history of Elgin, where, as an attorney, justice of the peace, banker or business man, his integrity was never questioned and his business judgment was implicitly relied upon. He was twice elected mayor and successfully administered

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the affairs of the city. He with five others was the original mover in securing the loca- tion of the National Watch Factory.

It is but natural, therefore, that E. Dun- bar Waldron, who has inherited the public spirit of his father, should occupy to day a prominent place in his native city as a man whose energy and enterprise have been. largely instrumental in encouraging and fos- tering the city's commercial and industrial interests, as well as in promoting in many ways the ethical, educational and religious: well-being of the community.

After a practical education in the public schools and the Elgin Academy, Mr. Wal- dron left, on account of poor health, to work in a lumber yard, hoping to be benefited by the outdoor exercise, and the result was highly satisfactory. For eighteen months he was a clerk in the Elgin postoffice. His commercial instincts prompted him to en- gage in business for himself, and he devoted the next two years to a book store, of which he had become proprietor.

At this time Chicago, the great commer- cial heart of the greater northwest, at- tracted him and he invested in the whole- sale wood and willowware business, giving it his personal attention until 1871, when the great fire destroyed the city, and swept his interests there out of existence. He then returned to Elgin and assisted in or- ganizing the Home National Bank, of which he soon became assistant cashier, and then cashier, filling the latter important position of trust for eighteen years. He still retains his interest in the bank, and since 1890 has been its first vice-president. He is also president of the Home Saving Bank.

Conservatively progressive, Mr. Waldron has always been ready to help anything cal- culated to help Elgin, and many of his best

investments have been. partially prompted by his loyalty to the city of his birth. He is at present, in addition to the above, treasurer of the Elgin Loan and Homestead Association, having held that position since the organization of the society; treasurer of the Elgin Packing Company; treasurer of: the Elgin City, Carpentersville & Aurora Railway; President of the Elgin Lumber Company; and a stockholder in the National Watch Company, the South Elgin Stone. Company, and, other prosperous enter- prises. He has also held the office of city treasurer a number of times. A Republican in politics, but believing in the purity, of municipal government regardless of ( party lines, Mr. Waldron has always exerted a quiet influence upon local politics.

He is a member of the board of trus- tees of the Elgin Academy, a member of the Chicago Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, the Union League Club, of Chicago, and an honorary mem- ber of the Chicago Bankers' Club. A Uni- versalist in religion, he has. done much to. aid that body, and the beautiful pipe organ in the Universalist church of Elgin is the gift of Mr. Waldron and his sisters, in memory of their mother, Mrs. Calista Wal- dron Slade.

On December 2, 1873, Mr. Waldron was married to Miss Louise Town, a daughter of J. J. and Esther (Graves) Town, of Des Moines, Iowa. Their: home, is at No. 181 South Gifford street, occupy- ing a commanding elevation, and is sur-, rounded by three acres of sloping- lawn, shaded by venerable trees. It is one of El- gin's most substantial and beautiful homes. In Elgin and wherever known, the name of E. Dunbar Waldron is synonym for those qualities that go to make life worth living.

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J JOHN NEWMAN. - In proportion to its population the city of Elgin numbers among its men of wealth, standing, charac- ter and business enterprise as many as any city in the land. Among those recognized as being in the front, and whose skill and ability is unquestioned, is the man whose name heads this sketch, one who came to this country from across the water some forty years ago, an unknown lad, without influential friends to aid him in life's work. However, he brought with him a stout heart, willing hands and a determination to succeed, and success has crowned his efforts in a remarkable degree.

A native of England, Mr. Newman was born at Bishop Stortford, Herefordshire, March II, 1842, and is a son of William and Emma (Thurgood) Newman, also na- tives of England, who lived and died in that country. Leaving school at the age of fourteen years, he was apprenticed to a a draper and grocer, with whom he contin- ued three years, and then resolved to come to the United States, where the opportuni- ties were much greater than in his own country for the enterprising person. He was in his eighteenth year when he left his English home, and .on the 29th of Septem- ber, 1859, he landed at New York, and one month later he located in Chicago, where he found employment with Potter Palmer as clerk in his dry-goods store. After remain- ing with Mr. Palmer for about a year, he engaged with Ross & Foster, with whom he continued until 1864. Instead of spending all his salary on good clothes and for per- sonal pleasure, as is so often done by mer- cantile clerks, from the amount received each payday he laid aside a portion, until his accumulations were sufficient to justify embarking in business on his own account.

Even at that time Elgin was quite a trading point, with a good reputation, and on leav- ing the employ of Ross & Foster he came direct to this place and bought ont the dry- goods store of M. & J. McNeil, which busi- ness he still continues. From that time to the present, more than a third of a cen- tury, he has been identified with the busi- ness interests of the city. The store pur- chased of the McNeils has grown with the city's growth until to-day it is one of the largest in Kane county. To its supervision he has always given his personal attention, and his stock is at all times varied and suited to the times.

As his means increased Mr. Newman has branched out and invested in other enter- prises that have not alone added to his in- dividual wealth, but to the wealth and gen- eral prosperity of the city. About 1876 he established the Spring Brook creamery at Elgin. The business was commenced in a modest way, but with the determination to make it noted for the excellent quality of butter and cheese manufactured. It was but a short time before it became known that the mark upon the boxes and cases "From the Spring Brook Creamery," was a guarantee of excellent quality. Year by year the business increased and creamery after creamery was added until to-day the Spring Brook creameries have over forty plants in active operation. The same good quality has ever been maintained and the reputation of its manufactured product is a No. I. The business is now conducted by the John Newman Company, of which he is the principal proprietor, being ably as- sisted by his brother, Joseph Newman, in the general management.

For some years Mr. Newman has been a stockholder in the First National Bank of

JOHN NEWMAN.

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Elgin, a stockholder and president of the of high culture and rare social qualities, Elgin City Banking Company, one of the a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and enjoys the love and esteem of all who know her. strongest and safest savings banks in the state outside of Chicago. His conservative nature, combined with a progressive spirit, makes him a model officer of such a finan- cial institution.' For many years he acted as treasurer and vice-president of the Elgin Board of Trade, and since 1894 has been its president, a position which he ably fills, and which enables him to do much for his adopted city. He never hesitates to do that which will advance the general interests of the city and cause it to occupy a front rank among its sister cities in the great common- wealth of Illinois.

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The Biographical record of Kane County, Illinois, Part 11

Author: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company Publication date: 1898 Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke Number of Pages: 798

Author: S.J. Clarke Publishing Company
Publication date: 1898
Publisher: Chicago : S.J. Clarke
Number of Pages: 798