USA > Illinois > Kane County > The Biographical record of Kane County, Illinois > Part 66
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While Mr. Borden was aware of the fact that numerous attempts had been made to preserve and solidify, milk as well as to find , acceptable substitutes for it, he believed that all had proven failures more or less, and he certainly found no products which made a near approach to such excellence as he believed to be attainable. He gave the question much study and at length took out seventy-five per cent. of the water, and with the milk added a sufficient quantity of pure granulated sugar to preserve it.
The first works for the condensing of milk were established at Wolcottville, Con- necticut, in 1856, and the following year a factory was put in operation at Burrville. The business grew rapidly during the Civil war, when large quantities of the condensed milk, preserved with refined sugar, were re-
quired by the Union armies. So quickly did it develop that it necessitated the es- tablishment of two other factories, one at Livermore Falls, Maine, and the other at Winsted, Connecticut. The Gail Borden Eagle brand of condensed milk soon be- came widely known, and has continued to grow in public favor with every nation. In 1861 the most important plant of the New York Condensed Milk Company was located at Wassaic, Dutchess county, New York, while another factory was established at Brewster, New York, in 1863; one at Wal- kill in 1881; one at Millerton in 1892; one at Deposit in 1894; and one at New Berlin in 1895.
In 1860, in Connecticut, Mr. Borden was united in marriage with Mrs. Emeline Eunice Church, nee Eno, and widow of Hiram Church, one of the early settlers of Kane county. On the death of her first husband, she returned to her old home in Connecticut, where she formed the acquaint- ance of Mr. Borden, which resulted in their marriage. From his wife he learned of the famous Fox river valley, and was not long in perceiving that this region offered excep- tional facilities for the extension of his won- derful discovery. After making one or two trips of investigation, in 1865, he had erected at Elgin a modest factory, which from time to time has been rebuilt and ex- tensive additions constructed, until it is now one of the largest and most complete plants owned by the New York Condensed Milk Company, known as the Illinois branch of that company. Here is prepared on a most extensive scale the Gale Borden Eagle brand of condensed milk, of which millions of cans are distributed throughout the west- ern and southern sections of the country.
The growth of the western business of
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the company was quite rapid, and it was quently he produced an excellent prepara- soon demonstrated that the Elgin factory tion of condensed tea, coffee and cocoa. In 1862 he patented the process by means of which the juice of fruits, such as apples, currants and grapes, could be reduced to one-seventh of its original bulk. His labors were conducted with the utmost care and perseverance, and his success was obtained only through long, tedious and expensive experiments, but his intense energy, un- yielding tenacity and great ingenuity enabled him to perfect his inventions, which have so largely contributed to the good of hu- manity. While Justus Von Liebig, sur- rounded with the elaborate apparatus of his well-appointed laboratory at Giessen, was ex- perimenting and prosecuting those researches into the nature of flesh and animal juices, which culminated many years later in the production of "Extractum Camis," Gail Borden, in the wilds of Texas, was inde- pendently investigating the same problem without scientific apparatus, and his labors resulted in bringing him the great council medal at the London fair in 1851. would not be able to supply the demand for the company's product in the west, and a plant was, therefore, established at Carpen- tersville, one of the most complete factories operated by the company. Another was later established at Algonquin and one at Belvidere. The offices which control this immense business are located at New York City, Jersey City, Newark and Chicago, and each place has one or more branch offices. The extent of his business can scarcely be realized. From a small business in 1856 it has grown to be one of the most important branches of the dairy industry. Nearly five hundred million pounds of milk are annually used by this one company in its various fac- tories, and thousands of persons are inter- ested directly andindirectly in the feeding of cattle, care of milk the process of manufac- ture and the distribution of the product. That factories at Elgin and Carpentersville, in the Kane county, have contributed largely to the growth and prosperity of the county is unquestionable. The stimulus given the milk industry by the establishment of the condensed milk factory at Elgin has been the chief instrument in the development of the butter trade, and to-day Elgin butter is the standard throughout the entire country. The Gail Borden Eagle brand of condensed milk is known in all countries and is the leading brand used in the majority of them, having stood the test of all climates.
Mr. Borden also experimented with con- densed meat juices, and produced an ex- tract of beef of superior quality, which was first manufactured in Elgin, but later an establishment was erected especially for the purpose in Borden, Texas, where the indus- try was continued after his death. Subse-
Up to the time of his death Mr. Borden gave personal supervision to his business, and he is entitled to the entire credit of es- tablishing the great industry of condensed milk, prepared milk and pure fluid milk, so invaluable to mankind. In the fall of 1873 he came Elgin and purchased an elegant home on Division street, with the intention of here passing the remainder of his life. His health being somewhat impaired, he went south to spend the winter, and, at Colorado, Texas, January II, 1874, was called to the upper and better world. In a brief period he succeeded in amassing an immense for- tune, but it was ever used for the good of humanity, and his charity and liberality were among his most marked traits. He pos-
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sessed an earnest Christian character and a noble generosity and devotion to the wel- fare of others, which has made his memory cherished and revered by friends and ac- quaintances. A companionable gentleman, broad-minded and sincere, his life abounded in kindness and courtesy to all, and in active philanthropy and hearty co-operation in every good work.
G EORGE A. BEITH is a prominent farmer residing on section 28, Camp- ton township. He was born in the town of St. Charles, Kane county, Illinois, January 7, 1848. His parents, William and Mary (Allen) Beith, were natives of Scotland, the former born February 13, 1818, in the town of Large, Ayrshire, Scotland, a few miles from Greenock, and in young man- hood learned the trade and business of con- tracting and building, with his father, Rob- ert Beith, who all his life carried on that line of business in Scotland and in Kane county, Illinois. Robert Beith and his wife, Margaret (Patton) Beith, with their family of ten children, left their native land in 1844, settling in St. Charles, Illinois, where they passed the remainder of their lives as highly respected and honored citizens. She died in 1871, while he survived her three years, dying in 1874. Both were buried in the St. Charles cemetery.
William Beith came to the United States one year previous to the arrival of his fa- ther's family, and his first contract in Amer- ica was for the erection of the Congrega- tional church at St. Charles, Illinois, in 1843. He subsequently erected many of the prominent structures at that place and in other parts of the county. His opera- tions also extended to Chicago, and at that
time and for many years after, he was the most prominent contractor and builder in Kane county. About 1863, he partially re- tired and has since resided on section 28, Campton township, and occupied his time in farming. With his life companion he is now enjoying the rest and quietude so well earned by a long and active business life, he at the age of eighty-one years and she aged seventy-seven years. He was largely interested in introducing and starting the manufacture of tile in Aurora, and has been active in all enterprises of a public na- ture calculated to benefit his vicinity or the county of his adoption. In early life he was a stanch Abolitionist and has always been a firm believer in Christianity. His marriage with Mary Allen was celebrated at Glasgow in 1841. She was born at Dil- ry, near his native place.
Our subject received his education in the public schools of St. Charles, Illinois, which was supplemented by a term in Bryant & Stratton's Commercial College, Chicago. He assisted his father on the home farm from the age of fourteen until reaching ma- turity, when he took full charge and worked it on shares until 1884, at which time he purchased the entire place, consisting of four hundred acres of arable and pasture land, and has since added an acreage of seventy-two acres. He almost exclusively confines his attention to dairy farming, grow- ing only a sufficiency of oats and corn for the consumption of his cows, which number about one hundred and which he replenishes annually with a car of new stock. The milk he ships direct from Elburn to Chi- cago. He secures bran from the Minneapo- lis mills, which mixed with the home prod- ucts, corn and oats, forms the staple food of his cattle during the year. The barns,
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sheds and facilities for grinding the food for the cattle are all one might expect to find on one of the finest improved and best managed farms of Kane county.
Mr. Beith was married September 28, 1878, to Miss Lucinda Richmond, daughter of Almond and Hannah (Smith) Richmond, natives of Vermont, who came to Kane county at an early day and settled in Camp- ton township, where they resided until their deaths, the mother dying in March, 1895, the father in November, 1895. Both are buried in the Garfield cemetery, of Camp- ton township. To Mr. and Mrs. Beith have been born a family of six children-Robert, Elizabeth, Mary, William A., Rachel and Lucinda, twins. The last named died when an infant, while the others are living and all receiving good educations.
Our subject has two sisters. Mrs. Ra- chel Day is the wife of Rev. W. F. Day, a minister of the First Congregational church of Los Angeles, California. She has one son, a minister of the same denomination, · located at Aurora, Illinois. He is a gradu- ate of Amherst College, Massachusetts, and has traveled extensively in Europe. The other sister, Priscilla, married Daniel Wheat- on, by whom she has two children-Mary, wife of Adolphus Moody, of Judsonia, Ar- kansas, and William, who lives with his mother. Daniel Wheaton died in 1896, and Priscilla is now the wife of David An- derson, of St. Charles, where she now re- sides.
Since the age of twenty-one years Mr. Beith has held the office of school director. In politics he is a Republican. With his wife and three eldest children, he is a mem- ber of the Congregational church of Elburn, in which he has been treasurer and trustee since 1891. As a citizen he has ever shown
a willingness to do his part in advancing the material interest of township and county.
W JARREN S. LEE, justice of the peace, Kaneville township, is one of the best known men in the township, which has been his home during his entire life. He was born in the town of Kaneville, March 24, 1860, and traces his ancestry back to Elijah Lee, of Connecticut, who was a soldier in the Revolutionary war, serving under General Israel Putnam. His son, Asahel Lee, was also a native of Conecticut, as was his grandson, Russell W. Lee, who was born in Middletown, that state, June 20, 1822. The last named grew to manhood in Middletown, and there married Sophronia Spencer, also a native of Connecticut. They were the parents of two sons and three daughters, as follows: Isadora, who died a young lady of eighteen; Mary A., who died when about twenty years old; Grace R., now the wife of T. P. Flanders, of Kaneville township; Warren S., of this review; and Brainard, who is married, and owns and operates a farm in Kaneville township.
About the time he attained his majority, Russell W. Lee came to Kane county, Illi- nois, and located in Kaneville township, where he entered a tract of land, which he fenced and at once began its cultivation. After remaining here for about four years, he returned to his old home in Connecticut, where his marriage was solemnized. · Com- ing back with his bride, he here made his home until his death in April, 1896. His wife survives him, and makes her home with her son, Brainard. Russell W. Lee was a man of good education and was one of the pioneer teachers of Kane county.
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By teaching in winters, and working on farms by the month the remainder of each year, he secured the means to make his first purchase of land. He was a very active and enterprising farmer, and at the time of his death owned two farmns, one of which he himself improved. He was elected and served in various positions of trust and honor, serving as supervisor, as- sessor and commissioner of highways. His death was mourned by a large circle of friends throughout the county.
Warren S. Lee grew to manhood on the old home farm in Kaneville township, and was educated in the common-schools. He remained with his father, assisting in farm work, until after he had attained his ma- jority. After the death of his father, he succeeded to a part of the estate. For some years he was actively engaged in farming, and later rented the place, since which time he has engaged in various occu- pations. While operating the farm he was also engaged in buying and selling stock and dealing in farm lands, his operations extending over Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. In these operations he was fairly successful, confin- ing himself principally to unimproved lands, which he held for an advance. He has always been a very busy man, and was one of the original stockholders in the County Line Creamery Company.
erting a good influence in its councils. Fra- ternally, he is a member of the Modern Woodmen of America of Kaneville, and is the present consul. Religiously he is a Baptist, a member of that church in Kane- ville, where he has served in the choir for a number of years. A lifelong resident of the county, he has for years been identified with various enterprises, calculated to ad- vance its material interest, and is widely and favorably known throughout Kane and adjoining counties.
D AVID ANDERSON, who is now living a retired life on his farm adjoining the corporate limits of St. Charles, Illinois, was for years one of its inost enterprising and successful farmers. He dates his resi- dence in Illinois since 1849, and in Kane county since 1860. A native of Scotland, he was born. at. Beli's Hill, near Glasgow, May 6, 1823. His father, John Anderson, was also a native of Scotland, and could trace his ancestry back through a long line of men and women prominent in the history of Scotland. John Anderson married Isa- bella Bissett, also a native of Scotland. By occupation he was a fariner, in which line he continued during his entire life. He never left his native country, but there reared his family and passed to his reward.
David Anderson grew to manhood in his native land, and there married Elizabeth Ray, also a native of Scotland. In 1849, with his family, he emigrated to the United States, first locating in Chicago, where he found employment as a stationary engineer, running an engine for a planing mill, and later for two years was with a publishing company. He made that city his home un-
Politically, Mr. Lee has been a lifelong Democrat, the principles of which party was instilled in his youth. He has been quite active in local polities, was elected and served two years as assessor, and in 1897, was elected justice of the peace, which office he is now filling in a satisfac- tory manner. In the conventions of his party, he usually serves as a delegate, ex- til 1860. However, in 1854, he came to
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
DAVID ANDERSON.
MRS. DAVID ANDERSON.
LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS.
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Kane county and bought a tract of land, which place comprises a part of his present homestead. Locating on the place in 1860, he at once began its further improvement, making it a pleasant and attractive home. While yet residing in Chicago he purchased a number of city lots, on which he later built several residences, and which he owned for a number of years, finally disposing of the same at a handsome profit.
After locating in Kane county, Mr. An- derson purchased more land from time to time until he now owns three hundred acres, lying in St. Charles and Geneva townships, but all adjacent to the city of St. Charles. This property is finely im- proved, having on it a substantial stone residence, fronting the river, together with large barns and other outbuildings. In this residence he makes his home, but has an- other fine house on the west part of the farm, which has also good barns and other outbuildings. A part of the place he some years ago sold, and the same was platted as an addition to St. Charles. It is now covered with good residences and comfort- able homes. In the improvement of his adopted city he has done very much, at one time deeding to it eleven acres of land, a strip one hundred feet wide, which has been converted into a boulevard from Geneva to St. Charles. He also gave the Electric Light Company one acre of land, on which to erect its power house and other necessary buildings. He has been connected with va- rious enterprises which were supposed to be of benefit to St. Charles. In the old con- densing factory he took shares to the amount of ten thousand dollars, which later he lost, as the factory was burned and never rebuilt. He was also connected with the West side Creamery. During all the years
in which he has resided in Kane county, he has been engaged in the dairy business in connection with general farming. He be- gan the dairy business while yet residing in his native country, for two years engaging in it at Glasgow. Mr. Anderson lost his first wife in Chicago, where she died in . 1858. She was the mother of two children, that are yet living-David R., of the firm of Hack & Anderson, publishers of Chicago; and Jennie S., wife of William Hack, senior member of the firm just mentioned. In 1861 Mr. Anderson was united in marriage in St. Charles with Miss Mary Beith, a na- tive of Scotland, born at Larges, and a daughter of Robert and Margaret Beith, both natives. of Scotland. Robert Beith and his son, William; were pioneers of Kane county, Illinois, locating in St. Charles. They were stone masons by trade, and many of the stone buildings in and near St. Charles, were constructed by them. Mrs. Mary Anderson died April 13, 1896. She was the mother of five children, four of whom are yet living. Margaret is the wife of Frank Hitchcock, who is engaged in the livery business at Dundee, Illinois. John J. died in infancy. Robert is unmarried, and is carrying on the home farm, together with the dairy business. William M. and George N. are business men residing in Chicago.
In October, 1897, in Elburn, Kane coun- ty, Illinois, Mr. Anderson was united in marriage with Mrs. Priscilla Wheaton, widow of Daniel Wheaton, and a daughter of William Beith, of Kane county. She was reared and educated in St. Charles, and in Blackberry gave her hand in mar- riage to Daniel Wheaton, January 5, 1869. They settled in White county, Arkansas, where Mr. Wheaton bought several large
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tracts of land, and where he was success- fully engaged in agricultural pursuits and business until his death. He left a large estate to his family. Mr. and Mrs. Wheaton were the parents of five children, two of whom are now living. The eldest, Mary, is now the, wife of Alpheus P. Moody, of Judsonia, Arkansas, whose father, Rev. Moody, was a minister of the Methodist Episcopal church at Judsonia for some years, the family being among the most prominent people of White county. They have two sons, Julius Clark and Powell Clayton. William Wheaton, who makes his home with Mr. and Mrs. Anderson, is a student in the schools of St. Charles.
Politically Mr. Anderson is a stanch Republican, a firm believer in the princi- ples of that party. He has never desired, nor would he ever hold office, giving his time and attention to his extensive business interests. He has been connected with the Congregational church at St. Charles for many years, being one of its most active official members. He has ever contributed liberally for the support of the church and has given much to other benevolent pur- poses. His wife is a devout member of the Methodist Episcopal church. For forty- nine years Mr. Anderson has been a resi- dent of Illinois, thirty-eight years of which time he has resided in Kane county. On locating in Chicago he found a small city, and in the years that have passed has wit- nessed its growth, until it is to-day the sec- ond city of importance on this continent. The changes in Kane county have been no less marvelous. Few men are better known in northern Illinois than the subject of this sketch. He is a man of unblemished char- acter, and he and his estimable wife are held in the highest esteein wherever known.
JOHN HENRY RICHARDSON, who re-
sides on section 26, Dundee township, is recognized as one of the best farmers in the township. His father, James Richard- son, was born at Springtown, County Don- egal, Ireland, in 1828, and died in Dundee in 1873. He was reared in his native coun- try, but lived for a time in Scotland. About 1849 he sailed for America, and settled in Pennsylvania, first living for a time in Phila- delphia. He lived in Pennsylvania until 1857, when he came to Dundee, where the remainder of his life was spent. An hon- est, industrious laboring man, he secured a little home and a six-acre tract near the village of Dundee, where he reared his fam- ily. He married Katherine Raser, a native of Pennsylvania, born May 6, 1831, by whom he had nine children-Mary Ann, wife of John Rose, of Dundee; Robert W .; John Henry, our subject; William James, partner of our subject, residing in Chicago; Isabella, living with her mother in Dundee; Henrietta, wife of Charles Swyner, an em- ployee of the watch factory in Elgin; Ann, wife of Fred Wolaver, of Chicago; Anthony, a milk dealer of Chicago; and Kittie May, with her mother in Dundee.
James Richardson was a son of Anthony Richardson, who married Isabella Hilliard, and who owned a farm in Ireland, which is still occupied by William Richardson, a half brother of James. The mother of James died when he was three years old, and he was reared by an uncle until fourteen years of age. He then worked at what he could find to do, and for two years prior to com- ing to America worked in the mines near Glasgow, Scotland.
The subject of this sketch was born in Manayunk, Chester county, Pennsylvania, July 5, 1855, and was two years old when
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his parents moved to Dundee. Since that time he has moved but once, when he came to his present farm. He attended school in Dundee until fourteen years of age, and was then engaged in farm work for others until 1875, when he rented for three years a farm on shares. He next rented for five years for cash rent. During this time the farm was sold and at the expiration of his lease in December, 1882, in partnership with his brother, he purchased his present farm of one hundred and seventy-eight acres, lying just south of Dundee, and later began the milk business in Chicago, his brother, William J., taking charge of the delivery there while he manages the farm. They retail from six to seven hundred gal- lons of milk in the city each day.
Mr. Richardson was married in Dundee, August 21, 1882, to Miss Ann Maria Rich- ardson, a native of Oniagh, County Tyrone, Ireland, and who came to America in 1880, followed by her parents two years later. She is a daughter of Johnson Richardson, a contractor and builder, who was born in Springtown, County Donegal, Ireland, in 1832. He there married Ann Jane Robin- son, daughter of John Alexander Muldoon Robinson, whose wife was Miss Maria Beatty, her mother's maiden name being Earl. John James Robinson, brother of Ann Jane Robinson, served through the Civil war and was for a time in Libby Prison, from which he made his escape. Johnson Rich- ardson and wife were the parents of four children-Isabel H., who married Will- iam A. Bingham, a shipping clerk for the Iron and Bolt Works at Carpentersville; Annie M., wife of our subject; John James, deceased; and Jane E., who married Charles Murray, a painter of Chicago.
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