USA > Illinois > The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century > Part 113
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90 | Part 91 | Part 92 | Part 93 | Part 94 | Part 95 | Part 96 | Part 97 | Part 98 | Part 99 | Part 100 | Part 101 | Part 102 | Part 103 | Part 104 | Part 105 | Part 106 | Part 107 | Part 108 | Part 109 | Part 110 | Part 111 | Part 112 | Part 113 | Part 114 | Part 115 | Part 116 | Part 117 | Part 118
ception, and adhesive memory. He took in the subject presented to his mind at a glance, seized its salient points, and fixed them indelibly on his mind. As a teacher he was comprehensive, clear and accurate. As a chemist he held first rank in the Northwest. His natural qualities, not less than his medical attainments, peculiarly fitted him for the practice of his profession. His genial presence in the sick-room was always sustaining, and his knowledge of dis- ease and the proper use of therapeutic agents rendered his ministrations to the siek particularly salutary. In social life his conversational powers and charm of manner made him mueh sought after, while his high qualities as a man and a gentleman caused him to be widely esteemed and respected. He died, after a protracted illness, on December 11th, 1874. Holding as he did the highest rank in the Masonic order, he was buried with Masonic ceremonies on the following Sab- bath from the Fourth Presbyterian Church, with which himself and family were identified.
00
ICE, HON. EDWARD YOUNG, Lawyer, ex- Judge, ex-Member of Congress, etc., was born in Logan county, Kentucky, February 8th, 1820. He is the son of Franeis Rice, a preacher and educator, and Mary (Gooch) Rice. His educa- tion, begun primarily in the public schools of the day, was completed at the Shurtleff College, in Alton, Illinois. In 1843 he eommeneed the study of law in the office of ex- Governor J. M. Palmer, then practising at Carlinville, Illi- nois, and in February, 1844, was admitted to the bar. In the following year he loeated himself in Hillsboro', and there entered on the practice of his profession. In 1847 he was Monroe, where he remained nearly two years. Prior to the elected Recorder for the county (Montgomery). This offiee he filled until 1848, when he was elected on the Democratie ticket to the lower House of the Legislature, serving two years, representing the eounties of Montgomery, Bond and Clinton. In 1851 he was elected County Judge to fill an unexpired term of J. II. Ralston, who had resigned, and in that eapacity served for a period of two years. In 1853 he was appointed, by the late Judge Charles Emerson, Master in Chancery for Montgomery county. In 1857 he was eleeted Circuit Judge for the then Eighteenth Judicial Cir- euit, comprising the eounties of Sangamon, Macoupin, Mont- gomery and Christian. To this offiee he was re-elected in 1851, and again in 1867. In 1870 he was elected to Con- gress from the Tenth Congressional District-comprising the eounties of Morgan, Green, Jersey, Calhoun, Macoupin, Christian, Shelby, Montgomery, Bond and Scott-on the Demoeratie ticket. His term expired in March, 1873, and he was not a eandidate for re-election. IIe was also a mem- ber of the Constitutional Convention of 1869-70, represent- ing Montgomery county, and took an active part in its proceedings, serving on the Judiciary and Education Com- mittees. He was married in 1849 to Mrs. Susan R. (Allen) Condy, of Kentucky.
505
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
AUCH, JOHN H., M. D., was born in Lebanon, | his attention had been called to the increase in the disease, Pennsylvania, September 4th, 1828. He is a son of Bernhard Rauch, a Pennsylvanian of Ger- man origin, and Janc (Brown) Rauch, a Seoteh
Presbyterian, of Scotch-Irish extraction. His
earlier education was acquired in the academy
of his native town. Selecting the medical profession, he entered the office of Dr. John W. Gloninger, in 1846, a prominent and successful practitioner of Lebanon, Penn- sylvania. Matriculating at the Pennsylvania University in 1847, he graduated from that institution in the spring of 1849. In the following year he located in Burlington, Iowa, and commenced the practice of his profession. During that year the Iowa State Medical Society was organized, and becoming one of its members he was ap- pointed by the body to report "On the Medical and Economical Botany of the State ; " his report was presented at the next annual meeting. Ile was the first delegate from the Iowa State Medical Society to the American Medical Association, and attended the meeting of this body in 1851, then convened at Richmond, Virginia. During the years 1850-51 his attention was directed to the relation of ozone to diseases, and he bestowed upon that matter a careful and thorough investigation. About this period, and during the prevalence of cholera, he called the attention of Congress to the necessity of providing medical aid for those engaged in maritime pursuits on the western waters, and succeeded in having established at Galena and Burlington sites upon which were subsequently erected marine hospitals. He was appointed one of the commis- sioners to select the sites. The buildings, eventually con- structed, were thrown open for use in 1858. In 1852 he delivered the annual address before the State Horticultural Society of Iowa, and during his residence in that State was an active member of the Iowa Historical and Geological Institute. In 1854 he became Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of Masons of Iowa, and delivered the annual address before the Grand Lodge. During 1855-56 he devoted some time to assisting Professor Agassiz in the collection of material for his work, the " Natural History of the United States," and secured a valuable collection from the Upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers, particularly piseatorial. A description of this. fine collection was pub- lished in Silliman's Journal of Natural Sciences. A portion of the two above named years he spent in Cam- bridge with Professor Agassiz. During his residence in Iowa he was always active in advancing educational and scientific interests, and with others, in 1856, was instru- mental in securing the passage through the Legislature of a bill authorizing a geological survey of the State. In 1857 he was elected to fill the chair of Materia Medica in the Rush Medical College of Chicago; this professorship he filled for three years, still continuing his residence in Iowa, and in 1858 was elected President of the Iowa State Medi- cal Society. In 1851, during his residence in Burlington,
cholcra, following the burial of a number of its vietims in the United States Cemetery, located there. With others, he became instrumental also in securing the vacation by government of the ground for burial purposes, and the donation of it to the Burlington University for educational purposes. In 1859 he was one of the organizers of the Chicago College of Pharmacy, and was selected as Pro- fessor of Materia Medica and Medical Botany 'in that institution. In 1861, at the outbreak of the war, he entered the medical department of the army, under Gen- eral Hunter, and participated in the battle of Eull Run. Shortly after this engagement he was appointed Brigade Surgeon and assigned to McDowell's division, General Keys' brigade, then stationed at Arlington. He was subse- quently with General Augur's command, and took part in the capture of Falmouth and Fredericksburg. In July, 1862, he was transferred with General Augur to Banks' corps, acted as Medical Director at Cedar mountains, and at Culpeper Court House assumed direction of the removal of the sick and wounded. Through this campaign he par- ticipated in all of the various engagements, acting as Assistant Medical Director of the Army of Virginia. He was also with General Pope through his campaign, and there rendercd valuable service, saving by his exertions during the disastrous retreat the medical stores of the army, as well as many of the sick and wounded. At the battle of Antietam he was placed in charge of the sick and wounded of both forces, superintending the exchange and paroling of disabled soldiers. He accompanied Banks' New Orleans expedition, and was assigned to duty at Baton Rouge as Special Medical Inspector of the Depart- ment of the Gulf. He participated in the capture of Port Hudson, acting as Medical Director during that siege, after which he accompanied General Franklin on the Sabine Pass expedition, moving with him afterward up the Teche. In 1864 he was relieved from active service in the field and appointed Medical Director at Detroit, whenee he was transferred to the Madison General Hospital, and there mustered out of service in 1865. For services performed during the war he was brevctted Lieutenant-Colonel. On his return to Chicago, at the request of a number of the leading citizens, he published his views on the burial of the dead in cities. This subject, i. e., " Intramural Interments and their Influence on Health and Epidemics," had been, also by request, discussed by him before the Historical Society of Chicago, in 1858, and on his return his attention being called to sanitary measures necessary in the city, and his essay bearing importantly on the point, he consented to publish it. In 1867, with others, he was instrumental in having the Board of Health organized in Chicago. Its members were appointed by the Judge of the Superior Court of the city, and he was appointed a member of the Board. Here he served until 1873, and during that time presented many valuable reports on sanitary measures, viz. :
61
506
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.
in 1868, a report on Drainage ; in 1869, a report on the of agriculture, Mr. Brown met with much difficulty in con- Chicago river and the Public Parks; in 1870, a Sanitary History of Chicago, with the official report of the Board of Ifealth from 1867 to 1870. In the fall of 1870 he visited the mining district of South America, in order to ascertain what prospects existed of improving the sanitary condition of the miners in the gold regions of Venczuela. During his sojourn in this country he made a large and valuable collection of natural objects for the Chicago Academy of Natural Sciences, of which he has been for many years an active and valued member. During the fire of 1871 his " Report for the Board of Health," also a " Synopsis of the Flora of the Northwest," his herbarium, his " South Ameri- can Notes," and many other valuable papers on sanitary measures were destroyed. At this time he became con- nccted with the Relief and Aid Society of Chicago, and rendered valuable service as one of its associates and agents. He has been actively engaged in the Board of Health and in all sanitary improvements in Chicago during the past six years and up to the fall of 1873. He has also been a prominent member, and acted as Treasurer since its organization in 1872, of the American Public Health Asso- ciation. In 1872 he prepared a paper on Slaughtering, and, by request, gave an opinion concerning the Schuylkill Drove-yard Abattoir. He has in fact given so much atten- tion to sanitary measures in various forms that he is con- ceded authority on all pertinent points, his views always commanding the attention and respect of those best quali- fied to act as judges. In 1868 he published a report on the " Texas Cattle Disease." He is one of the Agassiz Memo- rial Committee, a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and has also been appointed- but has not yet accepted the appointment-one of the Sani- tary Committee for the Interior Department of the United States of the Centennial Exposition.
ROWN, GEORGE W., Inventor and Patentee of " Brown's Corn-Planter," was born in Saratoga county, New York, in 1815. He was brought up on the farm and also Icarned the trade of carpenter and joiner. In July, 1836, he emi- grated to Illinois, locating in the neighborhood of Galesburg, where he engaged in farming and, as oppor- tunity offered, in carpentering. Living in a State whose staple product was corn, and being a tiller of the soil, Mr. Brown was alive to the great value of an invention which would . lessen the labor incident to the growing of this cereal. After careful study he prepared to put his idcas in shape, and being a man of small resources he was obliged to make his first planter from odds and ends picked up about his farm; this was in 1848. In 1850 he perfected the machine. As is the case in the introduction of all labor-saving inventions, more particularly in the direction
vincing the farmers that he had produced a machine which would greatly cheapen and lessen the labor of corn-plant- ing. Possessing, however, an iron will and indomitable perseverance, he took his planter and by practical demon- stration, renewed and renewed at every opportunity, con- vinced all who saw it of its utility. The first planters were sold in 1853, and from that time until 1855 he manufac- tured them in a small way on his place near Galesburg. In 1855 he removed to Galesburg and erected shops for his purpose ; these works he has enlarged and improved from time to time, as the demand required, until at the present writing they cover about two-thirds of a block, and are in all their appointments models of adaptability to the end sought. The works now employ about 150 hands and are producing to the extent of $300,000 in value, including the corn-planters and stalk cutters, which latter implement Mr. Brown commenced to manufacture about two years ago. Like the majority of inventors Mr. Brown has labored under numerous disadvantages. In the first place, the capital necessary for the extension and prosecution of his invention has been derived solely from his own labor; as a consequence developments have necessarily been the work of time. Secondly, after surmounting all difficulty and establishing beyond question the utility of his invention, he found no lack of those who, possessing means, were ready to rob him of the fruits of his toil. He, however, deter- mined not to be spoiled of his just dues, and for a period of twelve years he has fought numerous infringements, and at last has rcaped his reward by legally establishing his sole right to the production of the implement. Although closely and constantly engaged in his business, Mr. Brown has been and is still alive to the public interests of the town in which he has established his works, and has con- tributed largely and without stint to advance the cause of religion and education in Galesburg. To him the Meth- odist Church of Galesburg is indebted for a fine place of worship, which has been erected on ground adjoining his works. He is highly esteemed and respected by the entire community. He was married, September Ist, 1835, to Maria Terpening, of Saratoga county, New York.
ILKINSON, HON. IRA O., Lawyer and ex- Judge, was born in Virginia, in the year 1822. When thirteen years of age he removed with his father to Jacksonville, Illinois, where he was educated. For a short time he was Deputy Clerk of the county. While in this position he formed a taste for the legal profession and entered the law office of Judge William Thomas, where he remained until admitted to the bar, in 1843. Soon after his admission he formed a copartnership with the late Governor Richard Yates, and practised for two years, the firm being known
Saturn I'ni l'e. l' Idade
1
507
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.
as Yates & Wilkinson. In 1845 this association was severed by the removal of Mr. Wilkinson to Roek Island, where he enjoyed an extensive practice. In 1852 he was elected Judge of the Sixth Judicial District of Illinois; at the expiration of this term he resumed his functions as counsellor and attorney, but at the next judicial election he was again called to the beneh. While a member of the judiciary he gave unqualified satisfaction to the bar and the general community. His decisions were always re- ceived with the respeet due to the ability they manifested and the judicial impartiality by which they were character- ized. In 1867 he removed to Chieago and organized the law firm of Wilkinson, Siekett & Bean. He practises ex- tensively in all the courts of Illinois and adjoining States, and the United States courts. This partnership was con- tinued up to January, 1875. As a lawyer, he is thoroughly read, and, better, is complete master of the principles of law. He is a counsellor rather than an advocate, and is regarded as a very safe adviser. Although nominally a Republican, he follows the bidding of no party, and is in no sense of the word a politician. This independence of principle eaused him to support Horace Greeley for Presi- dent in 1872, as it did so many of the best men of the country, who hold integrity and principle above party. Aside from his professional relations, Mr. Wilkinson is greatly esteemed in social life as a man of wide and generous culture. In all relations his reputation is above reproach ; whether as a judge, a lawyer, or a citizen, a dis- tinguishing characteristic is his spotless integrity.
LLPORT, WALTER WEBB, Dentist, was born at Lorain, Jefferson county, New York, on June Ioth, 1824. He is the son of John and Evc All- port. His father was of English descent, while his mother's family were from Holland. When Walter was about ten years of age his father, who was a small farmer, removed with his family to Scriba, Oswego county, New York. There Walter worked on the farm in sunimer, and hauled wood to Oswego in the winter -a distance of four miles. On reaching his fourteenth ycar, owing to his father losing his property, the lad was thrown on his own resources. Nothing daunted by the prospect before him, Walter started out from home with two silver half dollars in his pocket. Ile journeyed on foot forty miles, to Rodman, where he found employment with a farmer named Loomis. After a few months he left this situation and procceded to Watertown, where he learned a trade and worked at it for two years, receiving as compensation for his labor board and clothing. Thereafter he engaged as a journeyman, alternately working and attending school. He had acquired in childhood the rudi- ments of an education, partly at home and partly in the district school. For the most part, however, he was his
own teacher. During the year 1844 he entered the office of Professor Amasa Trowbridge for the purpose of studying medicine. With him he remained for two years, but, de- veloping a taste for the study of dentistry, he in 1846 began to devote his entire attention thereto, putting himself under the tutorship of Drs. Dunning & Robinson. The partner- ship between his tutors was shortly afterwards dissolved, and he then became a partner with Dr. Dunning. On De- eember 24th, 1847, he married Sarah Maria Haddock, daughter of Samuel Haddoek, of Watertown, New York. During the following year he moved to Rome, New York, and became associated with Dr. D. W. Perkins, practice being prosecuted under the style of Perkins & Allport. Again he changed his location, this time to Pulaski, New York, where he continued to pursue his profession for four years. During the winter of 1853 he attended a course of lectures, and graduated D. D. S. from the New York Dental College. His attention having been drawn to the West as presenting a fine field for the practice of his profession, he visited Chicago in the spring of 1854. Having devoted some little time to a survey of the city, he concluded that he could not do better than settle there, and accordingly he promptly entered upon the arrangements necessary for the change. Returning East, he moved out with his wife, and arriving in Chicago a second time on September 24th, IS59, he has since made that city his home. Up to this time fortune had been somewhat chary of her smiles, and with a wife and two children depending upon him for sup- port his total capital was two hundred and fifty dollars. While looking around seeking to determine where to es- tablish himself, he came across a dentist of reputation who was desirous of meeting with some one to take charge of his practice while he went East for a few weeks upon a wed- ding trip. Dr. Allport accepted the charge, and gave so much satisfaction that an offer of partnership followed upon the other's return. The terms proposed were not satis- factory, however, and hc declined. Then he took an office in conjunction with a physician over the store of J. HI. Reed & Co., 144 Lake street. Here he construetcd a small operating room, seven feet by cight, in onc corner of the front room, by means of a wooden frame covered with cotton cloth and paper ; a table for his instruments he made by nailing an ordinary board in one corner, covering it with an old issue of the Chicago Tribune; and an operating chair was secured by renting one such as is ordinarily used by barbers. So prepared, he began business. At first mat- ters were decidedly slow. His first month's receipts were but a trifle over twenty dollars, and those of the next not more than thirty-nine. May Ist, 1855, he took better accommodation in Clark street, but without achieving markedly better results, barely making his expenses during the first year. His practice doubled in the next year, and in June, 1857, he moved into still more commodious quarters. Just before he settled in Chicago dentists began using a preparation of gold known as crystal gold for filling
508
BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.
teeth. The use of this he early acquired. Always well | kind in the country, and to Dr. Holmes is almost solely due informed in the progress of his profession, becoming more its present condition. As an oculist he has few equals in the country. He was married in 1862 to Paula Weiser, of Vienna. and more master of its science and adopting cvery valuable mechanical improvement, he has year by year added to the amount of his business, and is now known far beyond the limits of Chicago. Indeed there are few dentists in this country, the especial home of dentistry, who stand higher, or who have a better reputation at home or abroad. In 1856 he was elected Corresponding Secretary of the Ameri- can Dental Association, and in 1858 President of the Western Dental Society. In 1859 be accepted an invita- tion to deliver the valedictory address to the graduating class of the Ohio College of Dentistry. The following year he was elected first Chairman of the American Dental As- sociation, and in 1865 was honored with the Presidency of the American Dental Convention. In 1863, in association with the late S. T. Creighton, he began editing and pub- Iishing the People's Dental Journal, which was sustained for two years. When the American Dental Association met in Chicago, in 1865, he, as Chairman of the Executive Committee, delivered the address of welcome to the as- sembled members. In 1866 he was appointed Clinical Lecturer hoth in the Ohio Dental College and in the New York College of Dentistry; in the following spring, at the intimation of the faculty, he delivered the valedictory to the graduating class of the latter institution. Dr. Allport is not only an accomplished dentist, but he is a gentleman of cul- ture and a citizen of large public spirit and enterprise. He enjoys the warm csteem and respect of a wide circle.
OLMES EDWARD L., M. D., was born in Ded- ham, Massachusetts, in January, 1828. His father, Edward B. Holmes, was a mill contractor. His mother, Caroline Buttrick, was a native of Massa- chusetts. Edward L. attended the village schools, and having been prepared for college entered Ilarvard in 1845, graduating therefrom in 1849. For two years following he taught school in Roxborough, and in 1851 entered Harvard Medical School, taking his diploma from there in 1854, and being appointed resident pupil in Massachusetts General Hospital, where he labored until 1856. He then went to Europe, and was engaged in prose- cuting his studies in Paris and Vienna, giving exclusive at- tention to diseases of the eye. After a sojourn abroad of nineteen months, he returned in March, 1856, and settled in Chicago in the fall of that year, where he has since resided and confined himself to his specialty, in which he has justly earned a well-merited reputation. Ile has for many years filled the Chair of Ophthalmology and Otology in the Rush Medical College of Chicago. In 1858 he organized the Eye and Ear Infirmary of Chicago, the building for which was destroyed by the great fire. It has, however, heen re- erected, and the institution to-day is one of the best of its | the meeting, which tore the tent into tatters. In reviewing
"ERICKSON, RICHARD PATCH, Merchant, was born at Meadville, Pennsylvania, July 6th, 1816. He is the son of Samuel Derickson and Ann (Patch) Derickson. His father was a native of Perry county, Pennsylvania, and in 1812, during the war with Great Britain, came with a company of soldiers from Milton to Erie. After the war he removed from Erie to Meadville, where he settled. The lad was educated at the common school in Meadville, and for some months also attended Allegheny College. But his scholas- tic advantages were small, and at twelve years of age hc was apprenticed to the business of cabinet-making at Water- ford. He remained here learning his trade, and afterwards working at it, until he was eighteen, when, in 1834, he started out to walk to Philadelphia, a distance of 400 miles. He accomplished his self-imposed task, and arrived in the Quaker city with absolutely nothing but his knowl- edge of his trade, and a good stock of energy. He obtained work with the well-known house of Moore & Campion, cabinet-makers, on Second street, a house which is still a prominent one there. From Philadelphia he shortly re- moved to New York, where he also for some time worked at ' his trade. In 1836 he returned to Meadville, and in the following year was married to Mary Limber, daughter of John Limber, of Meadville. He continued for some five ycars after his marriage in his native town, steadily working at cabinet-making, but without achieving any advance in his social position. At length, in 1842, he determined to seek a new field .for his labor in the rapidly developing West, and removed to that section, making his entrance into that expanding region through the city of Chicago, then containing a population of only about 10,000. He imme- diately settled at St. Charles, a rising town in Kane county, on Fox river. Ilerc the great impulse of his life took a definite direction. It was when the anti-slavery movement of the country assumed the political form and the Liberty party, forerunner of the Republican, was organized. Mr. Derickson was a Christian man, a member of the Congrega- tional church. Naturally a reformer and politician of the progressive order, he found himself a leader of the small party in politics that proposed to remove the great evil of slavery from the nation. At this town, Owen Lovejoy, a candidate of his party, was first nominated for Congress. He was one of the most active of a few persons in that sec- tion in getting up a large convention to act upon the public mind. The call drew thousands of people from the sur- rounding country, who assembled under a large tent pro- cured from Oberlin, Ohio. A violent storm occurred during
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.