USA > Illinois > Kane County > The Biographical record of Kane County, Illinois > Part 74
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In politics Mr. Spalding is a Republican and a firm believer in protection. He was elected assessor of Blackberry township, in
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1883, and held the office for five successive years. He was then elected supervisor of the township, and has held the office con- tinuously to the present time. His re- election to the same office for so many years, speaks in unmistakable terms of a well-rendered and efficient service, and in this connection, it may be said that he is classed among the leading, enterprising and reliably solid citizens of the county, and a leader in his community in all enterprises, which, in his estimation, promises for the best interest of his township. For fifteen years he has also held the office of township school treasurer. Fraternally he is a Mason, a member of Blackberry lodge, No. 359, of Fox River chapter, No. 14, and of Sycamore commandery. He is also a member of the Modern Woodinen of America.
A NDREW ANDERSON, residing on sec- tion 14, Big Rock township, is a rep- resentative Swedish-American, one who has the interest of his adopted country at heart. He was born in Sweden, November 20, 1842, and there grew to manhood, spend- ing his boyhood and youth upon a farm. His educational advantages were limited, and his knowledge of the English language has been acquired since coming to the Unit- ed States. Glowing accounts had been sent him of the opportunities for wealth in this land and he determined to emigrate with the hope of bettering his fortunes. In company with his brother, Oscar, he crossed the ocean and immediately came west to Batavia, Illinois, where he joined Swedish friends and soon secured work on a farm and in a stone quarry. The next summer he worked on a steamer on the Mississippi river, and then was employed on the North-
western railroad at Union Grove, White- side county, Illinois.
In 1871. Mr. Anderson commenced work on the Illinois & Iowa railroad, with which he was engaged for several years. He then bought a small tract of land west of Big Rock, on which he located, but at the same time continued to work for the rail- road company. As his means increased he purchased more land adjoining his little place, and there engaged in farming some thirteen or fourteen years. Disposing of that place, in 1895 he purchased the farm on section 14, where he now resides. The place was very much run down at the time of his purchase, but he has since made vari- ous improvements, and has to-day a good farm of one hundred and sixty-one acres, on which he has built a large barn, put up a wind pump, and underlaid it with many rods of tiling.
Mr. Anderson was married in Cook county in 1872, to Miss Lena Christiansen, also a native of Sweden, in which country she grew to womanhood. She has been to him a helpmeet indeed, and has co-operated with him in his work to their mutual ad- vantages. Commencing lifein the new world in limited circumstances, and among strange people, by his own labor and enterprise, assisted by his good wife, he has secured a large and valuable farm, a good home, and an honored name in the land of his adop- tion.
Politically Mr. Anderson is a stanch Re- publican, and while interested in political affairs, has preferred to give his time and attention to his business interests, rather than in office seeking. He is a member of the Big Rock Congregational church, of which body his wife is also a member. For more than a quarter of a century he has
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lived in Kane county, the greater part of which time in Big Rock township, where he is well and favorably known.
S ILAS S. FOOTH, who resides on sec- tion 9, Virgil township, is numbered among the well-to-do farmers of Kane county. He was born May 1, 1859, in Kane county, Illinois, and is the son of Simon and Barbara (Fried) Footh, both of whom were natives of Bohemia, Austria. They were the parents of two children, Lola and Silas S. In 1852 Simon Footh left his native land and came to the United States, locating in St. Louis, Missouri, where he engaged in the cigar business, in which he continued about one year. In 1854 he came to Kane county, Illinois, and pur- chased eighty acres of land in Virgil town- ship, and at once began its improvement and as time and his means increased, he purchased more land, until at one time he had a valuable farm of one hundred and eighty acres, all of which was under culti- vation.
On the home farm the subject of this sketch grew to manhood, and while assist- ing his father in its cultivation, attended the district schools as the opportunity was afforded him, receiving a good common- school education. He has followed farm- ing during his entire life together with stock- raising and has been fairly successful.
On the 10th of January, 1887, Mr. Footh married Miss Emma Sabin, a native of De Kalb county, Illinois, and by this union are three children, one of whom died in infancy. The living are Myrtie A. and Charlie S.
In 1888, Mr. Footh purchased his pres- ent farm of one hundred and fifty-three 35
acres, all of which is under cultivation, and which is a well-improved and valuable farm, the surroundings of which show the thrift and energy of its owner. Politically, he is an enthusiastic Republican, with which party he has been identified since attaining his majority. For three years he served as road commissioner, and was for several years a member of the school board. Fra- ternally he is a member of the Knights of the Globe.
ERNEST A. GAGE resides on section 30, Rutland township, Kane county, Illinois, where he is engaged in general and dairy farming. The Gage family are of old colonial stock, and is scattered over the New England states. Lyman J. Gage, the present Secretary of the Treasury, undoubt- edly sprang from common ancestry with the Gage family in Kane county. The first to come to this county was Cyril Gage, who came in 1844, with his brother-in-law, Caleb Truax. His father, Solomon Gage, Sr., came in 1846, and also located in Rutland township. He was the youngest of a fam- ily of seven children, and was born in New Hampshire, in 1788, and died in Rutland township, Kane county, October 21, 1851. He married Miriam Guernsey, also a native of New Hampshire, born in 1786, and who died in 1866. She was the daughter of Cyril Guernsey, who never came west. Solomon and Miriam Gage were the parents of eight children, of whom seven reached maturity. Socrates came west with Caleb Truax in 1844. Saloma married Evelyn R. Starks, the first settler of Rutland town- ship, of whom mention is made elsewhere in this work. Esther married Caleb Truax, who was the first of the relatives to move
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west and settle in Kane county. Cyril, who came in 1844, with Caleb Truax, as before stated. John, who came in 1848, with his parents, and who is mentioned more at length elsewhere in this review. Solomon, Jr., father of our subject. Aaron came to Illinois with the family in 1848, and now lives in Missouri.
Solomon Gage, Jr., was born in Arcade, Wyoming county, New York, June 15, 1827. He was reared in his native county, and came west in 1846, and later bought a farın west of the present village of Burlington, Kane county, but sold the same after a few years. In company with his brother Cyril, he went to California in 1852, and there engaged in trading in cattle, meat, provi- sions, etc., to immigrants from the states. In 1854 he returned to Kane county, and after purchasing a lot of horses and cattle, went a second time to the coast, where he remained three years, employed as at first. On his first return the vessel on which he had taken passage, was wrecked and he was cast away on a desolate island, from which he was rescued after two weeks' exposure.
In 1857, having lost his first wife in Cal- ifornia, Solomon Gage, Jr., returned to Kane county, married and bought a farm on section 30, Rutland township, where he lived until his death, March 7, 1886. The farm consists of one hundred and forty-one and a half acres, on which he erected all the buildings, but which has been improved by our subject since the death of the father with over two miles of tiling. In addition to the home farm, in the spring of 1884 he purchased six hundred and forty acres in Jackson county, Iowa, lying in Belmont and Hunter townships, on which his son, Charles, now resides. Solomon Gage, Jr., was first married March 15, 1854, to Susan Hoge-
boom, of Geneva, Illinois. She died in California, March 15, 1857, and was fol- lowed shortly after by their only child. On the first of July, 1858, he was again married, his second union being with Mary E. King, born in New Haven, Connecticut, October 4, 1840, and who died January 4, 1871. She was the daughter of Madison King, of English descent, a sail-maker by trade, who died when about seventy-eight years of age. His wife survived him, and lived to be ninety years of age. By this second union nine children were born, of whom four lived to maturity. Charles H., who married Estella McClelland, by whom he has three children, Ernest T., Florence and Mary, lives upon a large farm in Min- nesota; Ernest A. lives upon the old home- stead in Rutland township: Susan M., de- ceased, first married Dr. W. Heffelfinger, a resident of Lakefield, Minnesota, and after his death married R. E. Nash, who is now living in Chicago; John G. is the proprietor of a drug store in Hampshire.
Solomon Gage, Jr., was for the third time married in 1872, his union being with Mrs. Sylvia Brisbin, widow of Fields F. Brisbin, who died in Plato township in 1870. She was born in Canada in 1826. Her father, Ephraim C. Staunton, was a native of New Hampshire, and the son of Eldridge Staunton, a native of England, who bore arms against the mother country in the war of 1812, and who was killed in the battle of Black Rock, December 31, 1813. Ephraim C. Staunton married Sarah Samis, a native of New York state, and a daughter of Benjamin Samis, likewise a na- tive of New York. They lived for a time in Canada, but came to Kane county, Illi- nois, in 1845, settling in Burlington town- ship, where he died in 1861.
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Ernest A. Gage, our subject, was born on the farm where he now resides and after attending the district schools completed his education in Beloit College. With the ex- ception of two and a half years, when he resided on a farm in Minnesota, he has spent his entire life on the home farm. In 1886, after his father's death, he took charge of the homestead, which has since been under his control. He was married March 31, 1891, to Emma C. Hemrick, a daughter of Philip Hemrick, of Rutland township, whose sketch appears elsewhere in this work.
In politics Mr. Gage is a Republican, with which party he has been identified since attaining his majority. He has been a member of the school board for several terms. Fraternally he is a member of Hampshire lodge, No. 443, A. F. & A. M., of Hampshire, and Loyal L. Munn chapter, R. A. M., and of Blackhawk garrison, No. 32, Knights of the Globe, Hampshire. He and his wife are members of the Eastern Star lodge of Hampshire. As a farmer he is thoroughly practical and keeps his farm under a high state of cultivation, devoting it principally to dairy purposes.
TO TODD BENJAMIN, residing on section 19, Sugar Grove township, is in every respect a representative citizen of the coun- ty, and is now operating the home farm of two hundred acres on which he was born January 30, 1853. On his father's side he is of Scotch descent, his grandfather, Elisha, who was an early settler of Oneida county, New York, being of Scotch parentage. Leonard Benjamin, the father, was born in Oneida county, New York, in 1812, and
there grew to manhood, and after having passed through the common schools entered Hamilton College, and taking the regular course, was graduated therefrom. In 1837, he came to Kane county, Illinois, and made claim to one hundred and sixty acres in Sugar Grove township, on which he built a small residence and began its further im- provement. When the land came into market he secured his deed for the same, together with forty acres additional, which is yet in possession of the family and is the home of our subject. He later bought a farm of forty acres in Big Rock township. A well educated man and a practical farmer, he made of the place one of the best in the township. In 1891, the family residence was destroyed by fire, and he later built the present substantial residence.
Before coming to Illinois, Mr. Benjamin taught several terms in the public schools and after his arrival here again engaged in teaching in connection with his farm work, teaching in all about twenty terms. He here married Lucretia Emery, a native of Tompkins county, New York, and a daugh- ter of Abner Emery. By this union were two sons and one daughter, Todd our sub- ject; Ida, wife of Charles Dugan, a farmer of Sugar Grove township; and Pratt, also a farmer of Sugar Grove township and the present township assessor. By a former marriage there are two sons, Charles and James.
Leonard Benjamin was in his time one of the most prominent men in Sugar Grove township, where he served as supervisor, assessor, justice of the peace, township trustee, collector, and other positions of honor and trust, showing the confidence re- posed in him by his fellow citizens. He died on the old homestead May 21, 1895.
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His widow survives and makes her home with her son, the subject of this sketch.
Todd Benjamin grew to manhood on the old farm, and in his youth assisted in its cultivation. His primary education was ob- tained in the schools of his neighborhood, after which he attended the Jennings Semi- nary at Aurora, preparatory to a college course. He then entered the State Uni- versity at Ann Arbor, Michigan, from which he graduated in the class of 1878. When but eighteen years of age he taught his first term in the public schools, and taught sev- eral terms before entering the university. After completing his course, he taught some twelve or fifteen terms, and now holds a teacher's certificate. He has, however, abandoned the profession, and now gives his time exclusively to the management of the farm, of which he has had charge since 1890.
Mr. Benjamin was united in marriage in Tekamah, Burt county, Nebraska, Decem- ber 8, 1895, with Miss Alta Breed, a na- tive of De Kalb county, Illinois, and a daughter of Charles Breed, now deceased, who was an early settler of De Kalb county, Illinois, and also of Tekamnah, Ne- braska. Politically Mr. Benjamin is a life- long Republican, and cast his first presi- dential ballot for Rutherford B. Hayes, in 1876. In local political affairs he has been somewhat active, and for eight years was a member of the county central committee of his party. He has also served as a delegate to various county and state conventions, in which his influence has been felt. For nine consecutive years he served as road commis- sioner, and has always been in favor of good roads. While not members, Mr. and Mrs. Benjamin attend the People's church of Sugar Grove. Fraternally he is a member
of the Modern Woodmen of America at Sugar Grove. A life-long resident of Kane county, and the township where he resides, he is well and favorably known as a man of superior education, of good business ability, and of exemplary habits.
S AMUEL HARTER, a retired farmer liv- ing on section 17, Kaneville township, came to Kane county in 1854, and for three years was actively engaged in agricultural pursuits. He is a native of Pennsylvania, born in Centre county, January 5, 1827. His father, Jacob Harter, was a native of the same county and state, as was also his grandfather, Andrew Harter. The family are of German ancestry, the first of that name who came from Germany being a pioneer settler of Centre county.
Jacob Harter grew to manhood in Cen- tre county, Pennsylvania, and there married Elizabeth Kern, also a native of the same county. Her father, Stephen Kern, was also a native of Pennsylvania, of German parentage. In his native county Jacob Har- ter.engaged in farming, and there reared his family, spending his entire life there, dying in 1863. His wife survived him about two years, dying in 1865. Of their family of seven sons and three daughters, our subject is fifth in order of birth. All grew to ma- ture years, and five of the seven sons are yet living.
Samuel Harter was reared in his native state, and in its common schools received hie education, attending during the winter months, while assisting in operating the farm the remainder of the year. He re- mained under the parental roof until attain- ing his majority, and in 1849 was united in
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marriage with Mary Dauberman, a daugh- Evangelical church, and for some years he ter of John Dauberman, of Centre county, was a member of its official board. Pennsylvania. After their marriage they remained in Pennsylvania until 1854, when they came to Kane county, Illinois, locating in Kaneville township, on land belonging to John Dauberman, a place of one hundred and sixty acres of partially improved land. On that farm he remained for about twenty years, giving his time and attention to the improvement of the place. In 1875 he bought his present farm of a hundred and thirty acres, and since coming into his pos- session he has made many improvements, including the erection of the substantial residence, good barns and other outbuild- ings, together with a good tenement house.
In 1857, some three years after coming to Kane county, Mr. Harter lost his wife, she dying, leaving one son, Adolphus, a farmer residing in Maple Park, Illinois. They lost one child, a daughter, who died when about one year old. In November, 1857, Mr. Harter married Elizabeth Gusler, a native of York county, Pennsylvania, and a daughter of Jacob Gusler, a pioneer of Du Page county, Illinois, who later removed to Kaneville township, Kane county. By this marriage there is one son, Rodell S., who is married and is engaged in the furni- ture and undertaking business at Maple Park, Illinois. He is also a member of the town council and à justice of the peace.
Politically, Mr. Harter supported the men and measures of the Democratic party until 1896, when he voted for William Mc- Kinley and sound money. For years he served as commissioner of highways and also a member of the school board. He is now serving as township trustee, which po- sition he has held for six years. Religiously, he and his wife are members of the United
Mr. Harter commenced life with but limited means, but by hard work and the practice of economy, he has acquired a competency. For forty-four years he has engaged in agricultural pursuits in Kane county, and that he has made a good farmer is attested by the improvements on his place. As a citizen his friends and neigh- bors all speak of him in the highest terms of praise.
FRANK DOBSON, a farmer residing on section 13, Virgil township, and who receives his mail at Lily Lake postoffice, is a native of Kane county, born on the farm where he now resides, June 28, 1854, and is the son of Abraham and Mary (Currin) Dob- son, the former a native of New Brunswick, and the latter of Ireland. They were the parents of six children-Mary, Julia, Frank, George, Eleanor and Alfred. The paternal grandfather Dobson was a native of Eng- land, who emigrated to New Brunswick at an early day, and there engaged in farming, at which occupation he continued during his entire life.
In 1838, Abraham Dobson came to Kane county, Illinois, and purchased a tract. of three hundred and twenty acres of govern- ment land, in Virgil township, and there en- gaged in farming and stockraising, in which he was quite successful. He died at the age of sixty years. The subject of this sketch grew to manhood on the old farm, which has always been his home. In the common schools, he received a fairly good education, and by reading and observation has since become a well-informed man. He has an interest in over six hundred acres of
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well improved land, and is classed among years and all married with the exception of the most substantial farmers of Virgil town- ship. In politics he is a Democrat, and religiously he is a member of the Catholic church.
S W. MYERS is engaged in farining and stockraising on section 9, Sugar Grove township, where he owns and operates a farm of about three hundred acres of well- improved and valuable land. He is a native of Illinois, born near Eureka, Wood- ford county, July 26, 1856. His father, Lewis H. Myers, was born in 1835, in Pennsylvania, and removed to Ohio, when a lad of thirteen, with his parents. George Myers, the paternal ancestor, was one of the early settlers of Pickaway county, Ohio. There Lewis H. Myers spent his youth, and when but eighteen years of age, was united in marriage with Miss Christina Helvern, who was but sixteen years old, a native of Ohio, and a daughter of Daniel Helvern, an early settler of Pickaway coun- ty, and also of German parentage. Soon after his marriage he moved to Indiana, and spent one year, and in 1856 moved to Illi- nois, locating in Woodford county, where he bought a partially improved farm of two hundred and forty acres, and there engaged in general farming. He was an active, enterprising and successful agricult- urist, and by his thrifty habits has been enabled to retire from active business and is now residing in Washington, Illinois. He was duly honored by his fellow citizens and served in various official positions with credit to himself and satisfaction of others.
S. W. Myers is the second in order of birth in the family of four sons and four daughters, all of whom grew to mature
two. In his native county, our subject grew to manhood and received his primary education in the common schools, which was supplemented by two years at West- field College. He was one year engaged in teaching during his college course, and after finishing his studies he farmed one year in Woodford county, and was then ap- pointed deputy sheriff of the county, and removed to Metamora, then the county seat. After serving as deputy one term he returned to the farm where he spent four years and then moved to Eureka, where he engaged in the live stock business, in which he was quite successful. While residing on the farm he was elected a member of the board of supervisors of Woodford county, and after his removal to Eureka was again elected a member of the board, and during his service, was on some important commit- tees including public buildings, almshouses, and judiciary.
In 1891, Mr. Myers disposed of his in- terest in Eureka, and came to Kane county, and bought the farm on which he now re- sides. Since locating here he has built a neat and substantial residence and several outbuildings, cleared and broke about sev- enty acres of new land, and put the place in the very best condition. For years he has been engaged in the fine stock business and is now making a specialty of Poland China hogs and Jersey cattle. He is also engaged to some extent in breeding thoroughbred Percheron horses. There is no better judge of fine stock in Kane county than Mr. Myers.
Politically Mr. Myers is a Democrat, with which party he has been identified since attaining his majority. In 1893 he was elected justice of the peace of Sugar Grove
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township, was re-elected and is now serving his fifth year. He has served as delegate to various conventions and is an ardent sup- porter of the free-silver measure. In 1896 he was nominated by his party as a candi- date for the office of county recorder, but failed of election, the county being strongly Republican.
Mr. Myers was married in Woodford county, Illinois, February 7, 1878, to Isa- belle Stumbaugh, a native of Woodford county, where she was reared and educated, and a daughter of Samuel Stumbaugh, one of the early settlers of that county. By this union there are five children, as follows: Gay, a young lady at home, who received her education at Sugar Grove, Illinois, and Knox College, Galesburg; Clark Shull, who is assisting his father in carrying on the farm; Lewis Dean, Mossie and Ruth, who reside at home. Mr. and Mrs. Myers were members of the Presbyterian church in Woodford county, but since locating in Sugar Grove they have not unitedwith any church, though still feeling an interest in moral and church work. Fraternally he is a member of Sugar Grove camp, Modern Woodmen of America. A life-long resident of Illinois, but only residing in Kane county a comparatively few years, Mr. Myers has yet made many friends, who will be pleased to read this sketch of his life.
R ICHARD DALE, who is now living a retired life on his farm in section 23, Big Rock township, is numbered among the settlers of 1852. He was born in Durhanı, England, July 28, 1824, and is the son of Thomas Dale, who was born .in Yorkshire, England, and who married, in Durham, Miss Ann Stoddard, a native of Durham. In
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