USA > Illinois > Kane County > The Biographical record of Kane County, Illinois > Part 14
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of three hundred and sixty acres in Dundee township and considerable city realty. All has been acquired through his own efforts and his property is a splendid indication of his busy and useful life.
Mr. Getzleman was married in Chicago, September 4, 1865, to Ernestine Rudolph, a daughter of George and Eva (Eichler) Rudolph, natives of Germany. Mrs. Get- zelman was born in Saxony, and by her mar- riage has become the mother of the follow- ing children: Emma, wife of Israel Reams, of Hampshire; Lydia May, wife of Charles J. Smith, of Elgin, who was born in Marine, Illinois, a son of Erasmus and Louisa (Bright) Smith, the former a native of Baden and the latter of Saxony, Germany. Mr. and Mrs. Smith were married June 1, 1878, and have one child, Ernest Theodore E., who has received a liberal education and is now a member of the class of 1898 in one of the Chicago law colleges. He is married. Benjamin C., who is married and living in Elgin, is a graduate pharmacist, but now occupies the position of bookkeeper in the Elgin National Bank. Edna and George died in infancy.
Mr. and Mrs. Getzelman are members of the Christian Evangelical church and are people of the highest respectability, whose many excellencies of character have gained them the warm regard of all with whom they have come in contact. In politics he is a stanch Republican and is a valued mem- ber of Elgin Post, G. A. R. He is a director in the Elgin National Bank, and has ever taken a very active interest in the develop- ment and progress of the community, doing all in his power for the promotion of its business, political, educational and moral interests. While in Hampshire he served as a member of the school board. He is as
true to the duties of citizenship in times of peace as he was when following the starry banner on southern battle fields, and his life record is one well worthy of emulation.
E EDWARD H. ABBOTT, M. D., is en- gaged in the practice of medicine and surgery in Elgin, his office being at 157 Chi- cago street. In a few short years his devo- tion to his profession has won him a place among the ablest representatives of the medical fraternity in this locality.
Dr. Abbott was born in Elgin, in the old Adams house on Villa street November 6, 1866, being the first child born to Frank W. Abbott and his wife, Dora L. (Helm) Abbott, the former a native of New York, the latter of Hanover, Germany. The pa- ternal grandfather, Hiram Abbott, was an American of Scotch descent, and his wife, Jennette Robinson, was a descendant of the Rev. Jedediah Hibbard, a hymn writer and Baptist minister of early New England times and a minute man in the Revolution. Hiram Abbott was a merchant of Cayuga county, New York, and died before reaching the age of fifty years, leaving one son and two daughters.
Otto and Fredericka (Berling) Helm, the Doctor's maternal grandparents, were natives of Germany, who coming to America early in 1850, located upon and developed a small farm in Barrington township, Cook county, Illinois. There Otto Helm died in middle life, while his wife surviving him, reached the age of seventy-two years. In their family were three sons and one daughter.
During his youth Frank W. Abbott first came to Elgin about 1856, but later traveled through the Rocky Mountain states and
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E. H. ABBOTT, M. D.
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into Mexico, returning in 1861 to enlist as drummer in Company I, Illinois Volunter Infantry. After serving three years he re- enlisted and remained at the front until the close of the war, participating in the battles of Donelson, Shiloh, Siege of Corinth, Iuka, Corinth, Hatchie, Town Creek, Bear Creek, Resaca, Snake Creek Gap, Day's Ferry, Rowe Cross Roads, Dallas, Calhoun Cross Roads, Mills Grove, Kenesaw, Decatur, Atlanta, Lovejoy's Station, Jonesboro, Al- toona, Bentonville, Sherman's march to the sea, and Savannah. After the war he entered the Elgin National Watch Works, where he was acting as job foreman at the time of his death, which occurred May 7, 1882, when he was forty-two years of age. He was an active member of the famous Elgin Military band for years. Fraternally he was a Master Mason, and politically a Republican. His widow still survives and with her children lives at No. 358 Yarwood street. Besides the Doctor there are two daughters-Catherine L., who is first assist- ant in the Gail Borden Public Library; and Jennette E., who is employed in one of the offices of the National Watch factory.
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Dr. Abbott was handicapped in early life by the loss of his father, and at an early age, fourteen years, he took his father's place as the family mainstay. Beginning in the watch factory on his father's job, he worked his way upward, succeeding in every- thing he undertook. ' Thrown into the so- ciety of mechanics he developed an inter- est in that direction and mastered me- chanical drawing and mathematics in several years of night work. Then turning to liter- ature and science he continued his night work, being in this his own tutor. During the same time he took an active part in local athletic circles, also edited the watch factory
department of the Elgin " Every Saturday " for three years, acted as secretary of Kane lodge, No. 47, I. O. O. F., for the same length of time, and passed through the chairs in that lodge. In 1888 he helped or- ganize the Republican Tinners' Campaign companies, acting as chairman in the meet- ings of the organization. Beginning the study of medicine several years before leav- ing the watch factory, he entered Rush Medical College, Chicago, with a year of work to his credit and graduated from that institution in the spring of 1895. Soon after locating in Elgin, Dr. Abbott undertook the treatment of a severe case of burning of the limbs and body of a young lady of Elgin. The case was pronounced a hopeless one, the patient being at death's door. After faithful preparation hundreds of skin grafts were placed upon the denuded flesh. with complete success, the young woman regain- ing her health with the restoration of the destroyed cuticle. The case was a record one of its kind, the surface grafted (two square feet) being one of the greatest ever reported to the medical profession. Chicago and St. Louis papers devoted much space to the operation, while nearly every paper in the middle states mentioned it. This case established the Doctor's reputation, and has been followed by others which gained him an enviable standing in his profession.
Dr. Abbott was. recently elected a mem- ber of the Fox River Valley Medical Asso- ciation and of the American Medical Asso- ciation; takes an active part in the Odd Fellows, Independent Order of Forresters, Knights of the Maccabees, Mystic Workers of the World, Royal Circle, and the Sons of Veterans. In the latter organization he holds the State of Illinois Supreme Sur- geoncy upon the commander's staff. He is
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also medical director of the Sons of Veter- ans' Life Association, the insurance branch of the order, and is a member of the Carle- ton Club.
In November, 1895, he purchased a half interest in the drug business at 159 Chicago street with C. F. Wm. Schultz & Com- pany. The business has since been con- ducted with gratifying success, Mr. Schultz being a skilled pharmacist, a graduate of the Chicago School of Pharmacy, the phar- maceutical department of the University of Illinois. The aim of this firm is to keep only the best and choicest of drugs and druggists' sundries.
Politically the Doctor is an Independent Republican, and takes a commendable in- terest in public affairs. He is a whole- souled, genial gentleman of a literary turn of mind, having contributed a number of articles for the local and general press. Being yet young, his promise for future eminence is flattering.
G EORGE BAKER, fence manufacturer and dealer in fencing material, Hamp- shire, was born near Mansfield, Seneca county, Ohio, June 9, 1845. His father, Peter Baker, was born near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and his mother dying when he was about five years of age, he was taken and reared by an uncle, who lived near Green Springs, Ohio. In early life he learned the shoemaker's trade, at which he worked for many years, and at odd times after his removal to Hampshire township. Samuel Baker, the paternal grandfather, moved to Ohio, some years after his son Peter went to live with his uncle. He died there about 1858, at the age of eighty years. The Bakers are of German origin,
the first of the name settling in this coun- try in colonial days. Peter Baker married Magdalena Cook, a native of Richland county, Ohio, and a daughter of John George Cook, who left Europe after the Napoleonic wars. To them were born seven children as follows: Sarah Ann, wife of Abraham Aurand, residing in Hamp- shire township; George, our subject; Ja- cob, living in Hampshire township; John, residing near the village of Hampshire; William, in Hampshire township; Harri- son, living in Sandusky county, Ohio; and Lydia, wife of Chris Bowman, of Hamp- shire township.
In November, 1845, Peter Baker came with his family to Kane county, Illinois, and located on a farm a few miles north- east of the present village of Hampshire. He came by wagon, and was three months in making the trip. While camping on the bank of a river one evening, the father went to get wood and the mother to get water. Our subject, then but about six months old, was left under the wagon. When the mother returned, she found the little one had rolled nearly into the river. The place selected by Mr. Baker was in the heavy timber, which had to be cleared for cultivation. A log house was first erected and later a substantial frame house was built. Here the father followed farming until his death, in December, 1867, at the age of forty-seven years. The mother remained in possession of the farm, until her death, November 25, 1894, at the age of seventy-five years. Peter Baker was a very industrious man, and in bad weather and at night worked at his trade of shoe- making, and thus acquired money to pay for his farm.
The subject of this sketch was reared in
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Hampshire township, and attended the dis- trict schools until the age of seventeen years. He remained upon the home farm, however, until November 17, 1864, when he enlisted in Company B, Seventeenth Illinois Cavalry, under command of Captain C. H. Shopleigh, and was mustered into the service at St. Charles, and was immediately sent to Jeffer- son Barracks, near St. Louis, where the regiment was detained for some months. It was then sent to Lexington, Missouri, where it engaged in battle with the Rebels, after which it was sent to Macon City, guarding prisoners. They returned to Illi- nois in charge of the prisoners, which were left at Alton, and the regiment was then sent to Kansas, west of Fort Scott, thence to Verdegris river, in the Indian country, and in guarding the stage route in Smoky Hill Valley. When near Salt Lake City, our subject and a companion were cut off from the troop by Indians, and the two fought for several hours, when relief came. Our subject was shot in the leg and was sent to the hospital at Fort Bennett, thence to Fort Leavenworth, where he was mus- tered out and discharged from hospital, January 10, 1866, and was sent to the soldiers' home, where he remained until February 22, 1866, and then sent to Spring- field, and from there home.
On his return home Mr. Baker began working on a farm for Mr. Rudolph, and, not yet being of age, his father took his wages, amounting to one hundred and fifty dollars, much to his sorrow. In the sum- mer of 1867, he worked for M. J. Getzel- man, for twenty-one dollars and fifty cents per month, and in the summer of 1868 for Samuel Gift. In 1869, he worked for Eber- hardt Wertwein, and in the fall of that year went to Ohio, expecting to make a
visit of a few weeks. Arriving there he went to work for an uncle, with whom he remained two years. On the 7th of Decem- ber, 1871, in Thompson township, Seneca county, Ohio, he married Caroline Deuch- ler, third in a family. of eleven children, born in Alsace, France, in 1845, and who came with her parents to America in 1851, sailing in April from Havre, France, land- ing at New York, in June, being forty-two days on the water. Her father, Peter Deuchler, married Elizabeth Long, a daugh- ter of Peter Long, a soldier under Napo- leon. Peter Deuchler was killed by a run- away team, in 1872, at the age of seventy - two years. His wife survived him some years, dying at the age of sixty-seven years. To Mr. and Mrs. Baker four children have been born, as follows: Albert W., an em- ploye in the tile factory, at Hampshire; Samuel R., a telegraph operator at New Lebanon, Illinois; Ida May and Lillie Annie, at home.
After his marriage, Mr. Baker rented a farm in Seneca county, Ohio, where he re- mained one year and then spent four years on a farm in Sandusky county, Ohio. In 1876 he returned to Kane county, rented a house and worked for Lucien Baldwin for one year, and then rented his father's old farm for four years. Shortly afterwards he bought his present place at the edge of the village of Hampshire, and built his residence. For two years he worked in the tile factory and at painting for four years. In 1883, he began his present business, and now manufactures several varieties of fencing and is also agent for several lines of patent fenc- ing. He has erected many miles of fencing in Hampshire and adjoining townships. During the season in which fence building is dull he canvasses for Bibles and religious
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books, and in a single year he has sold two hundred Bibles, and distributed two thou- sand Christian tracts. He and his family are all members of the Evangelical church. Fraternally he is a member of Hampshire post, G. A. R., and in politics is a Repub- lican.
FRANCIS BURTON, an honored pioneer of Kane county, who is now living re- tired in Elgin, was born in Sherrington, near Montreal, Canada East, December 14, 1829, a son of John and Jane (Stringer) Burton, natives of Yorkshire, England, who emigrated to Canada about 1815, and were married in Montreal. The father, who was a farmer by occupation, enlisted as a volun- teer in the French war, and was killed in an engagement at Odeltown, in 1838. His wife died in Kane county, Illinois, in 1866, a worthy member of the Episcopal church, to which the father also belonged. To them were born nine children, as follows: Will- iam, Richard, Mary, the wife of George Marshall, of South Elgin; John, Francis, George, who died at the age of seven years; Alice, widow of George Church; and Ann, wife of George Cookman.
Reared in Canada, Francis Burton ob- tained his education in the public schools of that country, and upon the home farm he early became familiar with every depart- ment of farm work. Coming to the United States in 1845, he located in Kane county, Illinois, where his brothers, William, Rich- ard and John, had previously taken up their residence. In 1850, before he had attained his majority, he made his first purchase of land, it being a tract of ninety-six acres in Plato township, which he leased. In 1852 he had " an attack of the gold fever," and, with his brother Richard, crossed the
plains to California, where he engaged in mining for about six months with reasona- ble success, operating principally on Weaver creek. On his return to Illinois he worked in a distillery at Clintonville for a time, and then operated a farm, which he rented of his uncle. At the end of that time he pur- chased eighty acres in Elgin township, Kane county, to the cultivation and improvement of which he at once turned his attention. Subsequently he bought another eighty-acre tract adjoining, which he afterward sold to the original owner, John Springer, and later purchased fifty acres in Plato township, which he operated for a few years. On selling that place he bought one hundred and seventeen acres adjoining it on the east. This place, together with his first eighty- acre farm, he still owns, and he successfully engaged in agricultural pursuits until 1884, when he leased his land to his son-in-law and removed to Elgin, where he has since practically lived retired in the enjoyment of the accumulations of former years. In con- nection with general farming, he devoted a great deal of his time to stock raising and dairying, and his farm is now chiefly a dairy farm.
On the 6th of September, 1853, Mr. Burton was united in marriage with Miss Mary Poole, a native of England, and a daughter of Charles Poole. Nine children blessed this union, namely: Charles R., a resident of Kingston, Illinois; Adeline M., wife of George Wright, of Elgin; George F., a butter maker living in Mount Carroll, Illi- nois; Fenny, wife of Charles Ladd, living near Iowa Falls, Iowa; Olive; William L., who lives on his father's farm at Iowa Falls; Frank, a carpenter of Elgin; and Lottie and Minnie, who died in childhood.
In his political affiliations Mr. Burton is
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a pronounced Republican, and he has most . parents removing from Dundee to this city acceptably served in a number of township offices. He and his wife are both consistent members of the United Brethren church, and are held in high regard by all who know them on account of their sterling worth and many virtues.
FRED W. JENCKS, the present efficient alderman from the second ward, is one of the leading and most popular business men of Elgin, where he is interested in a number of different enterprises. Although a comparatively young man, he has done much to promote the commercial activity, advance the general welfare and secure the material development of the city.
A native of Kane county, Mr. Jencks was born in Dundee, July 6, 1861, and is a son of Dennison and Elizabeth (Hollister) Jencks, the foriner a native of North Adams, Massachusetts, the latter of Danbury, Con- necticut. The father came to Illinois in 1841, is one of the oldest residents of the county, making his home in Dundee for many years. Since 1872, however, he has resided in Elgin, where for over twenty years he was successfully engaged in the in- surance business, but is now living retired at the age of sixty. A public-spirited, en- terprising citizen, he has always taken a commendable interest in public affairs; for three terms he served his fellow citizens as county supervisor, alderman of Elgin four- teen years, and postmaster at Dundee for eight years. Religiously Mrs. Jencks was identified with the Baptist church. She was called to her 'final rest January 18, 1897, at the age of fifty-six years.
Fred W. Jencks, the only child of this worthy couple, by adoption, has been a resident of Elgin since ten years of age, his
at that time, and in the academy he com- pleted his literary education. In 1877 he became interested with his father in the in- surance business, and now represents some of the most reliable firms in the United States, besides others of foreign countries. These include the Royal Fire, of England; the Girard, of Philadelphia; the Ætna, of Hartford, Connecticut; the Glens Falls, of New York; the Traders, of Chicago; the Imperial, of London, England; the St. Paul, of Minnesota; the American Central, of St. Louis; and the Scottish Union & National, of Scotland. He does the most extensive business of any firm of the kind in Elgin. He is also serving as a notary public, is a licensed city bill poster and distributor, is interested in the real-estate business, and for the past eleven years has been the effi- cient and popular manager of the Elgin Opera House, of Elgin, which has prospered under his charge.
On the 17th of June, 1883, Mr. Jencks was married to Miss Lizzie, daughter of Andrew Schaller, and they now have one child, Mabel V. Fraternally is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, while politically he is identified with the Repub- lican party. In 1895 he was elected alder- man from the second ward, receiving the largest majority of any candidate on the ticket, a fact which plainly indicates his popularity, and the confidence and trust re- posed in him by his fellow citizens. He has been a member of some of the most important committees, and has been chair- man of the fire and water committee during his entire incumbency. He has exerted his influence in behalf of the best interests of the city, and that his services are appre-
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ciated is evinced by his continuous re-elec- tion. For the past five years he has been president of the Illinois State Bill Posters Association.
H ANS JOHNSON, a farmer residing in the village of Hampshire, is a native of Denmark, born in Husby, November II, 1845. He there attended the Lutheran parochial school until the age of fourteen, when he commenced work on a farm, and later was employed as foreman of a large farm belonging to the minister of their church, which position he retained for three years. For three years he was in the Dan- ish army, serving from 1868 to 1870, inclu- sive. He was a corporal in the artillery service. At the time of the Franco-Prus- sian war he was again called into active service, and assisted in guarding the frontier. In the fall of 1872 he came to America. He left Denmark September 27, for Hull, England, and encountered a severe storm on the North sea, being driven back to Scaggen on the Danish coast. He sailed froin Liverpool, England, October 10, 1872, and landed at Quebec on the 22d of the same month. Froin Quebec he went to Luddington, Michigan, where he worked eight months, and then went to Grand Haven, in the same state, where he was employed two months. Froun Grand Haven he went to Chicago, and secured work on the Baltimore & Ohio railroad in Indiana. Receiving no money for his labor, he re- turned to Chicago and began work for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad. Later he secured work in Plato township, Kane county, on the farm of Ira Russell, where he remained four and a half years, then rented a part of the Russell land. A sister came from Denmark to keep house
for him, and on her marriage some months later he sold the stock and farm implements and took charge of a farm for a widow lady east of Elgin. He ran that farm for two years, when on the 28th of March, 1883, he was united in marriage with Miss Reka Dahl, and to them have been born six chil- dren - Lizzie, Ella, Charles, Katherine, Grace and Florence.
After his marriage Mr. Johnson went to Pingree Grove, rented the farın of L. N. Kelly, comprising five hundred and twenty acres, for which he paid a cash rent of seven thousand, five hundred dollars for the five years. In the fall of 1890 he bought his present farm of one hundred and fifty acres, which lies partly in the village of Hamp- shire, and which is well improved, having on it a good frame house, a large basement barn 36x80 feet, with twenty-four-foot posts, a windmill eighty feet high, the place being well drained with three thousand feet of tiling. The farm is used for dairy pur- poses, and Mr. Johnson keeps from forty to fifty head of cows, the milk from which he ships to Chicago.
Hans Johnson, Sr., the father of our subject, married Kern Jansen, who was also a native of Denmark. He was a laborer in Denmark and came to America, but not be- ing able to adapt himself to the customs of the country, became dissatisfied and returned to his native land, where his death occurred in 1881, when about sixty-eight years of age. Of his six children, all came to Amer- ica and here inade their homes.
In 1892 an exciting and almost fatal ac- cident occurred to our subject. He was filling his barn with hay, when the fork de- scended unexpectedly, piercing through his clothing and grazing his flesh. It was a rather too close call for comfort. Relig-
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iously, Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Hamp- shire. Fraternally, he is a Master Mason and a member of the Eastern Star, of which his wife is also a member; also a member of the Royal Neighbors, of the Knights of the Maccabees, Modern Woodmen of America and Knights of the Globe. In politics he is a Republican.
F FRED ROEHL, of Dundee, Illinois, has been a resident of Kane county since the spring of 1854. He is a native of Prus- sia, born August 14, 1832, and is the son of Charles and Louisa (Kroll) Roehl, also na- tives of that country. His father was a sailor, owner and captain of several ves- sels and followed the sea the greater part of his life. When Fred was but seven years of age his mother died, leaving three children. In his boyhood he had good common-school advantages, but learned the English language after coming to this coun- try. While yet residing in his native land, he learned the stone and brick mason trade in a most thorough manner. In 1854 he came to United States, and for a few months worked on a farm near Dundee. In 1855, he formed a partnership with Mr. Parker, a mason, and engaged in contract- ing and building with him about seven years. There are in Dundee a large num- ber of business and dwelling houses, which show the architectural skill and handiwork of Mr. Roehl.
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