USA > Illinois > Kane County > The Biographical record of Kane County, Illinois > Part 50
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Until attaining his majority our subject remained with his parents, and in the schools of Geneva, Illinois, he began his education, the family having removed to that place when he was about eight years of age. The district schools afforded him the only oppor- tunity he had for obtaining an education. Mr. Rickert manifested his patriotism by enlisting at St. Charles, Kane county, Sep- tember 16, 1861, in Company D, Eighth Illinois Cavalry, and was in all the engage- inents of his regiment until after the battle of Williamsburg, Virginia, in 1863. While on a foraging expedition in charge of Quar- termaster Chamberlain, he and his com- rades met a regiment of Confederate sol- diers, who made them prisoners. For about a month he was confined in Libby prison and was then paroled under the condition that they would fight no more. They were ordered to Washington, District of Colum- bia, where there was a large number of paroled prisoners, more than could be pro-
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vided for, and Mr. Rickert was among those discharged by order of the Secretary of War.
Since his return from the war, Mr. Rickert has been employed as a stationary engineer, and in that capacity has been with the Elgin Watch Factory since Janu- ary 8, 1867, almost a third of a century. His long continuance in their service plain- ly indicates the confidence and trust the company repose in him.
On the 6th of January, 1864, Mr. Rick- ert was united in marriage with Miss Har- riet A. Smith, a native of Bloomingdale, Du Page county, Illinois, and a daughter of Alvin and Mrs. (Walker) Smith, who were among the early settlers . of that place, where the mother died. The father, who was a native of Vermont and a farmer by occupation, departed this life while living in Elgin. Mr. and Mrs. Rickert have four children: Charles A., an employe in the Elgin Watch Factory, wedded Mary John- son, of Carpentersville, and has one child, Gale; Judson D. married Frances Barber and is employed in the finishing department of the watch factory; Lillian, who is also connected with the factory, resides at home; and Nellie E. expects to graduate from the Michigan University at Ann Arbor in the spring of 1898. The family have a very pleasant home at No. 274 Grove avenue, which was erected by Mr. Rickert, and which is the abode of hospitality and good cheer.
Politically, he is an ardent Republican, and, socially, he is an active and prominent member of the Grand Army Post, No. 49, of Elgin, and he also belongs to the Ancient Order of United Workmen and the Loyal Legion. He is a man of domestic tastes and industrious habits, and commands the
confidence and respect of all with whom he comes in contact, either in business or so- cial life. Mrs. Rickert is an earnest mem- ber of the Congregational church and a most estimable lady.
JOHN H. SCOTT, who is now living a retired life in Aurora, has been a resi- dent of Kane county since 1838. He is a native of Oneida county, New York, born October 26, 1834. His father, John Scott, was a native of County Derry, Ireland, born about 1804, came with his parents to the New World, when a lad of eleven years. They settled in Oneida county, New York, where he grew to manhood, married Mary Atkinson, a native of Leeds, England, and who came to America with her father, Francis Atkinson, when a child of nine years. John Scott was a wagon maker by trade, and followed that occupation in con- nection with carpentering in early life. In 1837, he moved to Chicago, then a town of about three thousand people, and for a year was an overseer on the Illinois & Mich- igan canal. In 1838 he came to Kane county, and spent the winter of 1838-9 in the village of St. Charles. In the spring of 1839, he took up a claim of sor .e four hun- dred acres in Virgil township The Indian tent-poles were still on the place, and also the tent-poles of the soldiers under General Scott, who removed the Indians from this vicinity.
After locating upon the farm, John Scott commenced its improvement, and at the same time did a great deal of carpenter work in Kane and adjoining counties, up to within a short distance of Chicago. He built three good houses on his claim, and, in 1856, engaged in merchandising at Black-
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berry Station, now Elburn. He remained there for two years, then returned to his farm, but later sold it and removed to Syca- more, De Kalb county, built a residence, and there engaged in business for a time, then returned to farm life, and still later lo- cated in Elburn, where he remained about a year. He then went to St. Charles, where he died at the residence of his son, William, in 1880. His wife passed away about two years later. He was quite a prominent man in the early days of Kane county, and was one of the last county commissioners prior to the adoption of the township organization law. For several years he served as justice of the peace, and was one of the most active and enterprising citizens of this county.
John H. Scott, our subject, came to tlie state a lad of three years, and was but four years old when he came to Kane county. In the primitive schools of the early days, heobtained his primaryeducation, and later attended the St. Charles High School and the Elgin Academy. He remained upon the home farm until after attaining his major- ity, and with his father was engaged in the mercantile trade at Blackberry Station. In 1858 he purchased his father's interest in the store, which he continued for one year, then exchanged it for a farm in Kaneville township.
On the 22nd of November, 1858, in Ogle county, Illinois, he married Miss Martha J. Ostrander, a native of Erie coun- ty, Pennsylvania, where she was reared and educated, and, for a time previous to her marriage, engaged in teaching in the public schools. By this union two children were born, who grew to naturity, the eldest, Lill- ian Lizzie, being now the wife of F. G. Hanchett, a prominent attorney of Aurora.
The other, R. B. Scott, is also a lawyer of prominence in Aurora .. He married Alice M. Downing, a daughter of W. H. Down- ing, of Aurora.
Mr. and Mrs. Scott began their domestic life in the town of Blackberry, but, in 1859 moved to the farm in Kaneville township, which was a tract of one hundred and forty acres of improved land. He at once bè- gan the cultivation of the farm, and en- gaged in general farming and stockraising for about seven years, when he sold the farm and January 1, 1867, moved to Kane- ville, and for a time was clerk in the em- ploy of B. A. Coy, and later with B. A. Coy & J. W. Prichard. After being in the firm for a tiine, he purchased the interest of the firm, and continued the business un- til 1888, and meeting with gratifying suc- cess. During this time he invested his surplus means in two farms, one near Kane- ville, consisting of one hundred and sixty- one acres, well-improved, and a place of four hundred acres in Blackberry township, which was also well improved.
In his political views, Mr. Scott is a Republican, his first presidential ballot be- ing cast for John C. Fremont, in 1856. He has cast his presidential ballot for the nom- inee of that party at every election from that time to the present, save in 1896, when he was prevented from voting by an accident, which confined him to the house. By his fellow citizens he has been hon- ored with various local offices, including that of township treasurer, in which he served several years, justice of the peace for eight years, and also assessor for several years. A friend of education, he served for years as a member of the school board, and for some sixteen years was postmaster at Kaneville. In many of
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the conventions of his party, county, con- gressional and state, he served as a delegate. Faithful in all things, he discharged every duty in a satisfactory manner.
Mr. Scott lost his wife July - 5, 1896, and she was laid to rest in Spring Lake cemetery. She was for many years a con- sistent member of the Methodist church, and died in the faith. For more than forty years, Mr. Scott has also been a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, in which he has taken an active part, and where his influence for good has been been felt by many persons. In 1896 he moved to Au- rora, where he has since lived a retired life, enjoying the fruits of the years gone by, honored and respected by all. In the sixty-four years of his residence in Kane county, he has made many friends through- out its length and breadth, and has been no inconsiderable factor in its development.
JOHN TYERS, of Aurora, Illinois, has been a resident of the city since 1854, during which time he has been actively en -. gaged either in contracting and building, or as one of the trusted employees of the Chi- cago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Com- pany. He was born in Peakirk, Northamp- tonshire, England, December 4, 1831, and is the son of Matthew and Mary (Lewin) Tyers, both of whom were natives of the same shire, the father being engaged for many years in the mercantile business at Peakirk. The maternal grandfather, James Lewin, also a native of Northamptonshire, was a man of superior education, and a professional teacher, and for thirty years was employed in one school.
John Tyers is one of a family of four sons and one daughter, all of whom grew
to mature years, save one son. Edward was a well-educated man, a teacher in Eng- land, where his death occurred. James grew to manhood in England, came to the United States and settled at Oswego, Illi- nois, and there married. He was a miller by trade, and for a number of years was en- gaged in the milling business at Oswego, later removed west to Sioux Rapids, Iowa, where he purchased a mill and there car- ried on business for a few years, then returned to Oswego, Illinois, but is now traveling with his wife in the south. Alice, widow of Mark Vickers, now resides in the city of London. John is the subject of this sketch. William, a miller by trade, is now living retired at West Brighton, near Rochester, New York. In his native coun- try, John Tyers grew to manhood and re- ceived good common-school advantages. In early life he learned the carpenter's and joiner's trade, serving an apprenticeship of three years. In company with his brother William he emigrated to America in 1852, and joined his older brother at Vienna, now called Phelps, New York, and went to work at his trade. He there remained.two years, about half of which time he was a partner in a sash and blind factory. In 1854 he came to Aurora, where he worked for a time at his trade as a journeyman, and then commenced contracting and building. La- ter he went into the shops of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, and was employed in the construction of buildings and depots. After the Chicago fire, he was sent to that city by the rom- pany, and there worked for a timne. Previ- ous to his entering the employ of the coin- pany, he assisted in the erection of a school- house at Plano, and the Methodist Episco- pal church at Sandwich.
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Mr. Tyers was united in marriage at by occupation a farmer, and served in the Aurora, December 25, 1858, with Miss Revolutionary war. Sophia Corlett, a native of New York, born Richard Holden was born in Charles- town, New Hampshire, in 1809, and, after arriving at mature years, engaged in the mercantile business in that city. He came west in 1853 with his family and located in Rockton, Winnebago county, Illinois, and there remained until the spring of 1858, when he came to Aurora, where he spent the remainder of his life, dying in his eighty-fifth year. He was originally an Old-line Whig, and, later, a Republican. Sophia, his wife, was the daughter of Na- than and Deborah (Farwell) Allen, all of whom were natives of New Hampshire. She died in Chicago in her eighty-fourth year. They were the parents of four chil- dren-James L., living in Chicago; John G., who died in 1895; Timothy N., our subject; and Mary E., living in Aurora. near Utica, and a daughter of Thomas Cor- lett. There are two children by this union, the oldest, Mary E., now being the wife of Lester Barker, a prominent business man of Sandwich. The youngest, William .J., is married and is the present city attorney of Aurora. Since leaving the railroad com- pany, Mr. Tyers has worked at his trade, and in contracting and building. Many of the public and private buildings of Au- rora show the architectural skill and handi- work of our subject. Since locating in Au- rora, as a permanent investment, Mr. Tyers has taken stock in the Burlington road. Politically he is a Republican, his first pres- idential ballot being cast for Abrahan Lin- coln and his last for William Mckinley. He is a member of the Baptist church, of which body his wife is also a member, and both are active in church and benevolent work. Fraternally, he is a Master Mason. Mrs. Tyers is a member of the Woman's Relief Corps of Aurora. In the forty-four years of his residence here, Mr. Tyers has witnessed many changes, and in the great transformation that has taken place he has been an active factor. No man in Aurora stands higher in the estimation of the. people.
H TON. TIMOTHY N. HOLDEN, mayor of Aurora, and a representative of one of its pioneer families, was born in North Charlestown, New Hampshire, March 21, 1839, and is the son of Richard and Sophia (Allen) Holden. Richard Holden was the son of Timothy Holden, a native of New Hampshire, of English ancestry, who was
Mr. Holden began his education in the public schools of Charlestown, New Hamp- shire, and was fourteen years of age when the family left for the west. He finished . his education in the schools of. Rockton. When nineteen years of age he went to Chicago and entered the employ of Fuller & Fuller, who are in the drug trade, with whom he remained eleven years. He then engaged in business for himself, in the wholesale glassware trade, on South Water street, Chicago, and was in that business at the time of the great fire in 1871, when he was burned out with the rest. Losing everything, he came to Aurora, and soon after found employment with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, and was with them seven years. He then went into the hardware business, as the junior member of the firm of Kendall & ' Holden, and that partnership continued for
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T. N. HOLDEN.
LIBRARY Of THE INVIOCITY OF ILLINOIS.
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fifteen years, when he sold out to his part- ner. In 1895 he took up the real-estate, insurance and loan business, his offices be- ing in the Coulter building.
Mr. Holden was united in marriage, September 17, 1868, to Marian Howell, daughter of Dr. O. D. and Cornelia (Moore) Howell. She was born in Moresville, Dela- ware county, New York, where her mother was also born, while her father was a na- tive of the same county. They settled in Aurora in 1855, where he continued his practice. Both he and his wife are de- ceased. They had six children, two of whom are now living-Marian, and Annie the latter being the wife of Judge F. M. Annis, of Aurora. To Mr. and Mrs. Holden, two sons have been born-Frank H., and Ben E., who are now in Paris, where they have been for three years, en- gaged in study. They completed their pre- liminary education at Aurora, then gradu- ated at the Chicago Manual Training School, then attended the Institute of Technology in Boston, three years, and are now at the Beauxarts, in Paris, and will finish the course in the fall of 1898. In that school are many young Americans, and all of promi- nent 'American families. This will be a splendid schooling for these young men, and when they return they will be richly and well endowed for life's journey.
Mr. and Mrs. Holden are members of the People's church, in Aurora, and in poli- tics he is a Republican, casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln. He has held various positions of honor and trust, and for eighteen years was a member of the board of education. For fifteen years, he was a member of the board of su- pervisors of Kane county, and ·was chair- man of the board for eight consecutive 24
years. In the spring of 1897, he was elected mayor of Aurora, and has made a popular and efficient officer, ever looking to- wards the best interests of Aurora. He has always taken an active part in the politics of the county, and has been a prominent factor in its growth and development. So- cially he is a charter member of the City Club, and has been its president. He is a man of pleasing address, of social charac- teristics and highly esteemed.
A H. LOWRIE is one of the most influ- ential citizens of Elgin, a conspicuous figure in the business and public life of the city, exerting a strong influence in support of all progressive measures for the public good. A man of splendid intellectual en- dowment, broad minded and viewing with comprehensive glance the needs of the com- munity, he advocates all that tends to the general welfare, and is accounted one of the valued residents of Elgin.
Born in Berwickshire, Scotland, October 29, 1836, our subject is a son of David and · Margaret (Selby) Lowrie, also natives of Scotland. The grandfather, David Lowrie, was an only child. For some years he was connected with the military service of his country, and after the battle of Copenhagen,
in which he participated, he was retired on half pay. He taught sword exercises after leaving the army and was a respected mem- ber of the community in which he made his home. The maternal grandfather of our subject was a farmer and died in Scotland in middle life. In 1842, David Lowrie, Jr., emigrated to America with his family, locat- ing in Cleveland, Ohio, where he died in March, 1843, at the age of sixty-one years. His wife passed away in 1863 when more
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than sixty years of age. Both were mem- bers of the Methodist church, and he was a Free Soiler and strong anti-slavery man. Their family numbered ten children, seven sons and three daughters, of whom seven are now living.
Mr. Lowrie, whose name begins this re- view, was a child of six years when he came with his parents to America. He went all through the Cleveland schools and after his graduation in the high school of that city became a student in Adrian College, Michi- gan. Later he matriculated in the Univer- sity of Michigan at Ann Arbor, but returned in the senior year to the Adrian college, and was graduated on the completion of the classical course. He received the degree of Ph. D. in the University of Florida, and afterward lectured in Florida and other states on literary and economic topics, being one of the popular orators of the south. On his graduation in the Michigan college with the degrees of A. B. and A. M., he was offered and accepted a tutorship in that institution, but after a short time he left it to take charge of a school in Cleve- land, where he remained two years.
Resigning from that position Mr. Lowrie accepted the superintendency of the schools of Bellefontaine, Ohio, and after three years spent in charge of the educational interests · of that city accepted a similar position in Marion, but resigned in order to become professor of English literature and political science in Adrian College. For fifteen years he was a member of the faculty of that in- stitution and was regarded as one of the most able, efficient and earnest educators in the state. For three years he was senior proprietor of " The Times and Expositor," of Adrian, then the most influential paper in southern Michigan. In 1882 he came to
Elgin and purchased the "Advocate," a weekly journal, and the following year, by purchase, became proprietor of the " Daily News." In 1886 he associated with him WV. L. Black in the publication of these journals, which they have since maintained in a foremost place among the newspapers of the state. The papers are published in the interest of the Republican party, and are excellent specimens of the highest art in journalism. Mr. Lowrie was one of the founders of the Inland Daily Press Associa- tion and from the beginning has been one of its officers and active members. He has always avoided public office, but under President Harrison served as consul to Freiburg, Germany, and was an able repre- sentative of the American interests there.
Mr. Lowrie was married September 11, 1859, to Miss Mattie B., daughter of Henry and Oraline (Waldo) Pease. Mrs. Pease was a direct descendant of Peter Waldo, who came to this country in the Mayflower, and her grandfather served in the Revolu- tionary war under Ethan Allen. Mr. and Mrs. Lowrie have three living children. Harry R., the eldest, now on the editorial staff of the "Chicago Times-Herald," is a graduate of Adrian College, and pursued a post-graduate course in the Yale University. Will L. was graduated at Adrian College, and afterward attended the university at Leipsic, Germany. He is now the real- estate editor on the "Chicago Tribune." Alfred Richard, now a student in Yale Uni- versity, spent one year in Germany, study- ing the language, which he speaks very fluently. In addition to excellent school privileges, the sons have all had the ad- vantages which only travel can bring. The two elder sons have twice visited Europe, and during his year's stay abroad the youngest
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son made a cycle trip from Freiburg, Ger- many, to Geneva, Switzerland, and all along the banks of the classic Rhine. Mr. and Mrs. Lowrie hold membership in the Con- gregational church, and their home is the center of a cultured society circle.
R OBERT ALFRED WINDETT, physi- sician and surgeon, No. 23 South River street, Aurora, Illinois, was born in Kendall county, Illinois, October 5, 1860, and is the son of Alfred and Electa A. (Ford) Windett, the former a native of England, and the lat- ter of New York. John Windett, the pa- ternal grandfather, also a native of England, was for some years a soldier in the English army. He had a family of six children, of whom Arthur, an attorney in Chicago, and Walter, a farmer in Kansas, are still living. He came to America with his family in 1836 and located in Kendall county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming. His death occurred there, at the age of fifty-four years, the result of an accident caused by a horse stepping on his foot. His wife, Elizabeth Windett, survived him some years, dying in 1885, at the age of eighty-four years, her death hastened by a fall in which her hips were broken.
The deceased are: Martin, an engineer on the Union Pacific railway, running one of the first engines out of Fort Larainie, was shot, and carried an arrow-head in his body for eighteen years, finally dying from the effects of the wound; Washington, a physi- cian and surgeon, and professor of genito- urinary diseases in the Kansas City Medical College, died in 1886; another died in child- hood from diphtheria. The mother of these children is yet living in Missouri, and has passed her four-score years. Alfred and Electa A. Windett were the parents of three children, of whom our subject is the oldest. The others are John F.,. a farmer of Ken- dall county, Illinois, and James, a farmer of Kane county. The father died in 1889, at the age of sixty-four years. He was for many years a member of the Methodist Episcopal church, and an officer in the same. The mother is yet living in Kendall county, Illinois, at the age of sixty-seven years.
The subject of this sketch grew to man- hood in his native county and received his literary education in the Sugar Grove In- dustrial School, and in Jennings Seminary, Aurora. After pursuing the prescribed course at Rush Medical College, he was graduated from it in the class of 1887, and at once commenced the practice of his pro- fession in Aurora, where he has since cen- tinued to reside. In the eleven years in in which he has been professionally engaged, he has built up a large and successful prac- tice, and is recognized as one of the leading physicians and surgeons of Kane county.
Alfred Windett, the father, was a lad of eleven years when he came with his parents to Kendall county, Illinois. At that time there were many Indians in this vicinity, and he became acquainted with Blackhawk and other noted. red men. His marriage with Electa A. Ford took place in Kendall . He has been connected with the Aurora county, where she came with her parents City Hospital since locating here, and is now vice-president of the board of trustees. He is a member of the Aurora Medical So- ciety, the Fox River Valley Medical Society and of the State Medical Association. In about 1857. She was one of a family of seven children, of whom four are yet living: Frank; Edgar; Amy, widow of William Cox; and Electa A., the mother of our subject.
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the first named he holds the office of presi- dent.
On the 12th of February, 1885, Dr. Windett was united in marriage with Miss Evelyn S. West, daughter of Elijah West, of Chicago. They reside in a pleasant home at No. 96 Oak avenue, where they delight to entertain their many friends. Fraternally Dr. Windett is a member of the Masonic order, blue lodge and chapter, the Sons of St. George, Knights of the Globe, and Modern Woodmen of America, in which latter order he is examining physi- cian for the local camp. In all national and state elections he affiliates with the Repub- lican party, but in local elections he votes for men rather than party.
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