The Biographical record of Kane County, Illinois, Part 38

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

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JOSEPH CLARK, one of the highly re- spected citizens of St. Charles, who for nearly half a century has been identified with the interests of Kane county, is a na- tive of England, born in the city of London, August 27, 1837. His father, Edward Clark, also a native of that country, emigrated with his family to the New World in 1852, the voyage across the Atlantic consuming six weeks. The vessel on which they sailed, the American Eagle, carried them safely from London to New York, whence they

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proceeded by way of the great lakes to command he participated in the engagement Chicago, and in May, 1852, they arrived in at Tallahassee; followed Price while on his raid; was in the first siege at Chickasaw Bayou; took part in the battle of Arkansas Post, and in the siege of Vicksburg. He was then detailed for hospital service at Young's Point, where he remained for some time, and from March until July, 1863, he served on a hospital boat on the river. On account of illness he was then discharged and returned home, where he remained un- til 'he had somewhat regained his lost strength. Kane county. St. Charles was then the ter- minus of the railroad. About a mile and a half from the village the father purchased a tract of ninety-one acres of land, which he at once commenced to clear and improve, erecting thereon a good frame residence. Upon that place he continued to make his home until about two years prior to his death, when he removed to St. Charles, where he passed away March 1, 1886. The mother of our subject died in England, and there the father was again married, his sec- ond wife dying in Kane county, in 1853.

The children born of the first marriage were Ellen, wife of W. H. Britt, of Chicago; William, now deceased; Joseph, of this sketch; Mrs. Cooley, of Batavia, Kane county; Mrs. J. F. Elliott, of St. Charles; and Edward, who during the Civil war was a member of the Thirty-sixth Illinois Vol- unteer Infantry, and died from effects of wounds received while defending the old flag and the cause it represented.

At the age of fourteen, Joseph Clark came to the United States with his father, and in Kane county grew to manhood. He had received good educational advantages in his native land, but after coming to this country attended school but very little. Remaining at home he assisted his father in the arduous task of developing the wild land into highly cultivated fields. Although of foreign birth, he had great love for his adopted country, and during her hour of peril he offered his services to the govern- ment to assist in putting down the rebellion. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company E, One Hundred and Twenty-seventh Illinois Volunteer Infantry, which was assigned to the Army of the Tennessee, and with his

The following year Mr. Clark began farming upon rented land and continued to follow that occupation for a few years. He then removed to St. Charles, where he pur- chased a lot and erected his present resi- dence in 1876, while he engaged in teaming for some years. After his father's death he bought the interests of the other heirs in the old homestead and to agricultural pur- suits again turned his attention, successfully operating the farm until 1892, when he rented it and returned to St. Charles, where he is now living retired. Upon the farm he has made a number of useful and valuable improvements.

On the 22d of October, 1863, in Kane county, Mr. Clark was united in marriage with Miss Amanda A. Wood, a native of Erie county, Pennsylvania, who, when a child of three years, was brought to Illinois. Her father, William Wood, was a pioneer of Kane county, first locating in Blackberry, and later in Batavia, where he spent his last years. Mrs. Clark grew to woman- hood and was educated in Kane county.

The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Clark are as follows: Hattie A. died at the age of twenty-two years; Mabel A. is the wife of S. W. Durant, formerly of St. Charles, but

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now of Huntley, Illinois; William Edward married Clara Bennett, of St. Charles, a daughter of A. A. Bennett, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this volume. They are both connected with the Boydton Mis- sionary School, at Boydton, Virginia, where Mrs. Clark is serving as a teacher and Mr. Clark as an editor and publisher. They are well educated and both were formerly teachers. Mary J., the next of the family, was for a time matron of the Boydton School, but is now at home; Joseph O., Anson I. and Ruth Ellen are all at home.

The Republican party finds in Mr. Clark a stanch supporter of its principles, and he has voted for every presidential nominee of the party since casting his vote for John C. Fremont in 1856. Although he has never sought office, he was elected and acceptably served as collector of St. Charles for four or five years. Mrs. Clark, her oldest sons and two daughters, are members of the Congregational church, the services of which Mr. Clark also attends, although not a member, and to its support he contributes of his means. As a citizen he has always been true and faithful to every trust reposed in him, so that his loyalty is above ques- tion, being manifest in days of peace as well as when he followed the old flag to victory on southern battle fields. As an nonored pioneer and representative man of the community he is also worthy of the high regard in which he is, uniformly held.

R EV. CALEB FOSTER, who resides at No. 93 South Fourth street, Aurora, Illinois, has been a minister of the Gospel for sixty-one years and in that time has been instrumental in bringing many into the kingdom, and has left the impress of his

mind upon the minds and hearts of thou- sands of persons where he has broke the bread of life. He was born February 14, 1812, near Franklin, Venango county, Pennsylvania, and is the son of John and Mary (Martin) Foster, both of whom be- came residents of the Keystone state, in early life accompanying their respective parents from Baltimore, Maryland, during the last century.

John Foster was a farmer by occupa- tion, owning a farm on the banks of the Allegheny river, where he and his wife re- sided until his death, the foriner in 1837, at the age of fifty-one years, though natu- rally a healthy nian. When Caleb Foster was four months old his father was drafted into the war of 1812-being drafted a sec- ond time. His wife survived him many years, dying at the age of eighty-four. They were the parents of seven children, who reached maturity: Ross; James, who is still living in Pennsylvania, at the age of eighty-nine years; Caleb, now in his eighty- seventh year; Mary, who married William De Woody, and raised a large family of children, most of whom grew to be men and women, is still living in Pennsylvania at an advanced age; John; Julia Ann, who married John Temple; and Eliza, the young- est of the family, who married Seth Tem- ple, all of Pennsylvania.

Caleb Foster began his education in the common subscription schools of his state, where it was often found difficult to support the schools for lack of funds. He afterwards attended Allegheny College, at Meadville, Pennsylvania, during parts of 1834-5-6. He entered the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal church and received an appointment July, 1846, at the organiza- tion of the Erie conference at Meadville,

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Bishop Soule, presiding, and Bishop Morris by his side. From that organization he was transferred to the Pittsburg conference and was assigned to Florence circuit, Alle- gheny county, then Kittanning circuit, then Somerset, then Fish Creek Mission in Vir- ginia, then Harrison circuit, West Virginia, Lewis circuit, West Virginia, and from there he was transferred back to his native state and assigned to Blairsville, where he formed the acquaintance of Miss P. J. Waterman, who afterward became his wife, and from there to the Pittsburg Wesleyan Chapel.

Mr. Foster was married in October, 1843, to Miss Parmelia Jane Waterman, daughter of Lyman and Parmelia Wat- erman, of Blairsville, Pennsylvania, her father at that time being a wholesale merchant at Blairsville. Subsequently removing to Pittsburg, he continued in the same line of business for some time. The year after his marriage, our sub- ject removed to East Liberty circuit, where he remained two years; then to Chartier circuit, near the city of Pittsburg, one year; then to Asbury Chapel, Pittsburg, two years. While here he was a member of the committee on publication of the Pitts- burg " Advocate." He was next assigned to Brownsville, two years; then to Mononga- hela City, two years; then back to Asbury Chapel, one year. In 1854 he was trans- ferred to the Rock River conference, and was stationed at Peoria, Illinois, one year, and was then at Canton, Illinois, two years. Rock River conference being divided at that time, he fell in with the southern division, and took his certificate of location and moved to Ottowa, Illinois, where he spent one year, at the end of which time he was re-admitted to the Rock River conference at Waukegan and sent to Mendota, where

he remained two years, and was then as- signed Sandwich for two years and Oswego one year. While there, in September, 1863, he received the appointment of agent for Clark's, now Jennings' seminary at Aurora, in which he was engaged for three years, and so active were his exertions that in that time he raised by voluntary contributions the sum of eighteen thousand dollars to apply to the benefit of the seminary.

In the fall of 1866 Mr. Foster retired from that work, and being quite worn out by his excessive labor, sought needed rest, but for a brief period only, as the limited state of his finances urged further active exertions. His many friends ill-advisedly counselled him to take a supernumerary re- lation to the church, which he tried without much reward, turning his attention to vari- ous occupations, until February, 1871. In that year he was invited to enter into the American Bible work, a position he accepted, and has ever since been actively engaged in it with most gratifying success, and al- though eighty-six years of age, is as vigorous and energetic as most men who are thirty years his junior.

To Mr. Foster and wife were born seven children, five of whom are now living, as follows: Mary Emma, Parmelia A., Ly- man W., Ada J. and Robert N. Parmelia A. is now the wife of Rev. W. H. Burns, D. D., of Oak Park, Cook county, Illinois. Mr. Foster is the oldest member, as well as being the oldest man, on the board of trus- tees of Jennings seminary, and has been trustee a longer period than any man ever connected with the position. He is widely known and respected by all who have the pleasure of his acquaintance, and he pos- sesses a wonderful retentive memory of people and events of the past, and his mind

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is no less active on those of the present. A good conversationalist, genial and pleasant with all, he finds pleasure in his work and health in the active exercise pertaining thereto. At his own request his relation to the conference is now that of superanuate. In politics he is a Republican.

D UANE B. BALDWIN, a farmer re- siding on section 24, Hampshire town- ship, traces his ancestry back to Joseph and Elizabeth Baldwin, his great, great- grandparents, who were natives of New England, the former dying January 9, 1808, at the age of seventy-nine years, and the latter March 13, 1808, at the age of sixty years. Their son, Thomas Baldwin, was born in April, 1784, probably in Connecti- cut. He was a blacksmith and tool-maker by trade, and during dull seasons of the year would take his tools that he had manu- factured and sell thein through the coun- try. On the 19th of April, 1817, in Con- necticut, he married Polly Lanfear, who was born in 1798, and who was the daugh- ter of John and Mary Lanfear. Shortly after their marriage they moved to Dorset, Vermont, where he died July 4, 1854, she surviving him, dying in 1872.

Lucian Baldwin, son of Thomas and Polly Baldwin, was born at Dorset, Ver- mont, March 29, 1819. He there grew to manhood and married Maria J. Lanfear in May, 1843. She was born at Ticonderoga, New York, and in childhood made the old fort a playground. Her father, David Lan- fear, was a soldier in the war of 1812. He inarried a Miss Phillips and came west with Mr. Baldwin, later went to California, where he died in 1870, at the residence of a daughter. Lucian Baldwin came to Kane

county, Illinois, in July, 1843, and settled on the farm now owned by our subject. It was all in timber at the time, and he cleared the land, split rails to fence it, built the log house in which our subject was born, there lived for some twenty years, and, in 1872, built the present large framne house. He died January 29, 1889. To Lucian and Maria J. Baldwin, four chil- dren were born-Charles H., who lives at Pingree Grove; Duane B., our subject; Ella J., wife of Scott Phillips, an employee of the watch factory in Elgin; and Anna M., wife of Silas E. Crane, a carpenter living on section 25, Hampshire township.

Duane B. Baldwin, was born on the farm on which he now resides, November 22, 1849. His education was obtained in the district schools of Hampshire township, sup- plemented by two terms at the Elgin Acad- emy. The first school he attended was in an old log house with puncheon floor and puncheon benches. He attended school until about nineteen years old, in the mean- time assisting in the cultivation of the home farm. In 1869 he took charge of the farm, and continued its cultivation until 1873, with the exception of a short time in 1870, when he operated a sawmill in Kansas City, Missouri. In 1873, he went to California and at Truckee, Nevada coun- ty, engaged in the lumber and wood busi- ness. He remained in California until 1876, a part of which time he was working in the interest of the Bank of California, getting out timber and lumber at Virginia City. Returning home, from 1876 to 1891, he was engaged in farming, then moved to the village of Hampshire, where he en- gaged in cultivating land near there, and also in bailing hay and other occupations. On the Ist of March, 1898, he returned to

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the home farin which comprises one hun- dred and sixteen acres, and is used for dairy purposes. He keeps about twenty- five head of cows and ships the product to Chicago.

Mr. Baldwin has been twice married, first in Elgin, February 11, 1879, to Miss Etta Allen, daughter of John A. and Pa- tience (Bowen) Allen, by whom he had one child, Emory D., who is with a relative op- erating a steamer on Lake Michigan. The second marriage of our subject was at Co- lumbiana, Ohio, December 30, 1885, when he wedded Verana Sinsel, a -daughter of Henry and Caroline Sinsel. By this union four children have been born-Ethel M., Eva, Walter and Iva.

Fraternally, Mr. Baldwin is a member of Hampshire lodge, No. 443, A. F. & A. M. Politically he is a Republican. For years he served as assessor of his township, and has served as road commissioner and school director for several terms each. He is a wholesouled, genial man, very popular, and has many friends throughout Kane and adjoining counties.

G EORGE FREAR, who is living a re- tired life in Aurora, was for many years one of the trusted employees of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, and also a contractor and build- er, having charge of the erection of a num- ber of the substantial buildings of the city. He has been a resident of Aurora since April, 1856. A native of Canada, he was born in Quebec, February 4, 1821. His father, Joseph Frear, was born in North- umberland county, England, April 2, 1777. In coming to America, he was nine weeks

in crossing the Atlantic. He first settled in Oswego, New York, but remained there only a short time, moving to Quebec, Can- ada. He married Eleanor Lee, also a na- tive of Northumberland county, England. By trade he was a cabinet-maker, joiner and wheelwright, having served an appren- ticeship in the old country. In Quebec he worked at his trade, and also for a time was engaged in merchandising. In 1828 he re- turned to the states, locating in the city of New York, where he worked at his trade a number of years. In 1839 he moved to Ulster county, New York, and purchased a farm of one hundred acres, and for ten years was engaged in farming. He later re- moved to Binghamton, New York, and there died, January 2, 1851. His wife passed away April 17, of the same year.

George Frear is the youngest and only surviving child of Joseph and Eleanor Frear. While residing in New York city he attended St. John's Academy, where he received a liberal education. He there learned the carpenter and joiner's trade, but had previously worked three years at wood carving. With his father he went to Ulster county, New York, and took charge of the farm. He also removed with him to Bing- hamton, and there worked at his trade.

While residing in Ulster county, Mr. Frear was married November 11, 1847, to Miss Jane Clemons, a native of New York, where she was reared and educated, and a daughter of Ira Clemons, a farmer of Ulster county. By this union they became the parents of four children, as follows: Mary Anna, now the wife of E. W. Shepherd, a soldier of the late war, but now a machinist of Aurora; Eleanor L., who for some years was a successful teacher in the public schools of Aurora; George William, who

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died in early childhood; and Maria Emily, who died at the age of four years.

After residing nearly five years in Bing- hamton, Mr. Frear inoved back to Ellen- ville, Ulster county, New York, where he engaged in contracting and building for two years. In 1856, he came west, located in Aurora, then a town of less than two thou- sand inhabitants. Here he also engaged in contracting and building for a little more than two years, and in 1859, went into the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy railroad shops, working in various . departments, principally as a pattern maker, and also in the construction and the repair of coaches. He continued with the road some five years, and then purchased a farm in Cook county, to which he removed, and where he re- mained but eleven months. Selling out he returned to Aurora and went back into the shops, where he remained about twenty-five years.

Politically Mr. Frear was first a Whig, then an Abolitionist, and on the organiza- tion of the Republican party, became iden- tified with it. His first presidential ballot was cast for General Winfield Scott, and his first Republican ballot for John C. Fre- mont. He has never desired or held public office, with the exception of being a mem- ber of the school board for three years, dur- ing which time he used his influence in se- curing good schools. Religiously he is a member of the Presbyterian church, in which he has been an elder for a number of years. Mrs. Frear is also a member of that church, and both take a lively interest in whatever tends to promote the Master's cause.

Mr. and Mrs. Frear celebrated their golden wedding November .II, 1897, at which time a large number of their friends congregated and gladdened the hearts.

They were the recipients of a number of presents, showing the friendship and esteem in which they are held. The session of the church presented him with a gold-headed cane on that occasion. In the forty-two years of their residence in Kane county, Mr. and Mrs. Frear have made many warm friends, who esteem them for their Christian character.

I OUIS A. CONSTANTINE, postmaster of Aurora, was born in Buffalo, New York, March 13, 1853, and is the son of Louis A. and Fannie (Case) Constantine, the former born about 1800, in Berlin, Ger- many, while his father was a member of the French Legation. He came to the United States in the '30s, where he lived for some time and where his death occurred in 1865. On coming to this country, he adopted the principles of the Whig party, and later be- came a Republican. His wife, Fannie (Case) Constantine, was born in Devonshire, Eng- land, and came with her parents to Canada, when she was eleven years of age. She died in 1892, at Davenport, Iowa, where she was visiting her daughter. Louis A. and Fannie Constantine were the parents of eight chil- dren, four of whom are yet living: Sidney M., an attorney at Three Rivers, Michigan; Alice, now Mrs. Charles Stephens, of Davenport, Iowa; Louis A., our subject; and Benjamin F., manager of the "Post," Aurora. The deceased are William, Carrie, Maria, and Mary.

The subject of this sketch attended the public schools at Buffalo, N. Y., and Grand Rapids, Michigan. He then entered a print- ing office as an apprentice, serving. through all the grades and was then transferred to the business office. His first work was in

LOUIS A. CONSTATINE.

LIBRARY

OF THE HNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS

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the office of the " Republican, " at Dowa- giac, Michigan, then the Grand Rap- ids "Eagle," the Jackson "Citizen" and the "Gazette" at Davenport, Iowa, and the Chicago "Daily News." From the · " News " he came to Aurora, in November, 1877, and bought the "Post, " which he has since published. This paper is a daily, seven-column folio, and devoted to the in- terest of the Republican party. It has been a prosperous paper since it was started, and has absorbed the "Democrat," "Times," " The Journal " and " Blade, " weekly news- papers of Aurora.

Mr. Constantine was united in marriage March 27, 1882, at Aurora, with Miss Lil- lian Loomis, daughter of William and Isabel (Seeley) Loomis. She is a native of Aurora, and her parents were natives of Erie coun- ty, Pennsylvania. They had three children . - William, deceased; Mary, now the wife of Dr. Douglas Long, of Detroit, Michigan; and Lillian. Mr. and Mrs. Constantine are members of the Peoples church, Aurora.

Since attaining his majority, Mr. Con- stantine has been actively engaged in poli- tics, and, as a Republican, has been a leader in the councils of his party. He was clerk of the senate committee two terms, and was private secretary of President Bogardus, of the senate. For two years he was in the internal revenue service, in Chicago, under Christian Mamer. On the 13th of January, 1898, he was appointed by President Mc- Kinley, postmaster of Aurora, commissioned on the 20th and took possession of the office February 1, 1898. He has served as delegate to many county, district and state conven- tions, has been chairman of the city exec- utive committee, and chairman of the sena- torial committee. He is president of the Republican press association, of the eighth

congressional district, and state organizer of the Illinois Republican League. A man of action, pleasing manners and good ad- dress, he has many friends, not only in Kane county, but throughout the state.

D' R. WILLIAM A. PRATT, proprietor of the Cedarside Stock Farm, and breeder of Holstein-Friesian cattle, section I, Elgin: township, has the reputation of being one of the best breeders in the state of Illinois, his stock" being found in nearly every state and territory in the Union. He was born in Naperville, Du Page county, Illinois, October 25, 1843, and is the son of Dr. Philomen Brown and Mary (Grimes) Pratt, the former a native of Brattleboro, Vermont, born in 1815, and the latter of Genesee Valley, New York, born in '1818. Her uncles on both sides participated in the war of 1812. Dr. Philomen B. and Mary (Grimes) Pratt, were early settlers 'of Du- Page county, and- he was one of the first dentists in Illinois, beginning practice in Chicago, in 1850. On the discovery of gold in California, he made a trip to the new Eldorado, but only remained one year, returning to engage in the practice of his profession, having previously studied under his brother, D. Amos Pratt. In early life he was politically a Whig, and later a stanch Republican.

When our subject was but six years of age, the family moved to Batavia, Illinois. Young as he was he drove three head of cattle twelve miles, on foot. After living in Batavia, they moved to his present farm, where he since continued to reside, a period of forty-seven years. He came soon after a railroad was built to Elgin, and when wolves and foxes were yet seen in the vicin-

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ity. His education was received in the com- mon schools of Batavia and Elgin, supple- mented by an attendance at Wheaton Col- lege, then under the presidency of the elder Blanchard. At the age of twenty-one he began the practice of dentistry with his father at Elgin, at which he continued eight years.

Since discontinuing the practice of den- tistry, Dr. Pratt has given his entire atten- tion to stock raising. At first he raised only Jersey cattle, but soon changed to Hos- stein-Friesian and is now one of the largest individual breeders in America of that stock. He has been in the business since 1880, and has three farms stocked with registered cattle. The home farm consists of one hundred and fifty acres, partly lying in Cook county. He has one hundred and sixty acres near Gilbert and one hundred and thirty-five acres near Spaulding. The following are some of the noted strains that he has on hand in the spring of 1898: Pauline Paul, Nierop, Coronet, Duchess of York, Mathilda K., Ondine, Empress, Snowflake, Queen Bess, Zuider Zee, Astrea, Countess of Flanders, Maid of Twisk, Echo, Aaggie, Netherlands, Cliftons, Minks and Mercedes.

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The Biographical record of Kane County, Illinois, Part 38

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