The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 14

Author: Robson, Charles, ed
Publication date: 1875
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy
Number of Pages: 770

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BIOGRAPHIICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

gramme of school duties in the college over which he so | the Public Schools of Keeseville, New York, and continued ably presides. As a result of this there has been less sick- as such for five years. In the spring of 1874 he was elected Principal of the Jacksonville Female Academy, where he still remains. Ile stands very high as an educator, and is a man of large literary and scholarly attainments. He is a pleasant, genial gentleman, active in all moral and literary enterprises ; and is greatly respected and esteemed by all who know him. He was married, August 6th, 1869, to Mary F., eldest daughter of Frederick Smith, of Burling- ton, Vermont. ness in the " college family "-comprising usually about eighty persons-than in some private families of the town of less than one-tenth of that number; and in the ten years during which he has held the control of a school for young women, not a single case requiring serious discipline has ever occurred among his students. As a speaker he has a readiness and freedom, coupled with aptness in illustration, and an earnestness of address, all of which render him very effective before youth. His duties of late years have been chiefly with the more advanced of his scholars, in such branches as Mental and Moral Science, Logic, Political Economy, Evidences of Christianity, etc., in all of which he has evinced creditable ability. IIe is an active and zeal- ous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, holding an official relation in the Illinois Conference, and is effective in all general and union conventions and meetings, such as are usually held under the auspices of the Young Men's Christian Association and Sunday-school organizations. IIe is an earnest advocate of total abstinence, favoring a pro- hibitory liquor law, and is a Republican in political pref- erence. He enjoys the confidence of business men with whom he comes in contact ; and is foremost in all matters of social interest and local enterprise. Since the preparation of the above, Mr. De Motte has been elected Superintend- ent of the Deaf and Dumb Institute located at Delavan, Wisconsin ; a position for which he is especially fitted.

ALLARD, ERASTUS FRANKLIN, A. M., Prin- cipal of the Jacksonville Female Academy, Jack- sonville, Illinois, was born of humble parentage in the town of Jay, Essex county, New York, May Ist, 1840. Although of a delicate and sensitive nature, he was subjected, in early boyhood, to all the privations and hardships incident to a rugged country life and indigent circumstances. At the age of fifteen he was left to care for himself, with no one on whom to rely for direction or support. He early manifested an inclination for study ; and was led to appreciate something of the bene- fits of a liberal education, and soon came to the settled pur- pose of securing it, at whatever cost or sacrifice. With this end in view he labored and studicd. In 1860 he entered the Freshman class in the University of Vermont, and although frequently interrupted by ill health, and by pe- cuniary embarrassment, he graduated with high honors four years thereafter. After leaving college he taught two years in Royalton Academy, Vermont; and in the autumn of 1866 returned to his native county in New York, where he was shortly afterwards elected, on the Republican ticket, to the office of School Commissioner, which position he held for three consecutive years. In the fall of 1869 he was called to become the Principal and Superintendent of

ARWELL, JOHN V., Merchant, was born, July 29th, 1825, in Steuben county, New York, and is the third son of Henry and Nancy Farwell. His parents were farmers in moderate circumstances, and as is usual in the country he assisted them in the labors of the farm during the summer months and attended the district school during the winter. The family removed to Ogle county, Illinois, in 1838, and com- menced opening up a farm on the unbroken prairie. He remained with them until he was sixteen years old, and then entered the Mount Morris Seminary for the purpose of com- pleting his education. He was very poor, too poor to board in the institution ; but he boarded himself and by himself. He mastered the practical and elementary branches with his eye upon a life of business. Ile learned book-keeping and taught it. Ile was expert in mathematics and in composi . tion. In the spring of 1845 he arrived in Chicago, his cash capital being $3.25. He became an assistant in the city clerk's office at a salary of $12 per month, and reported the proceedings of the City Councils at $2 per report. As he reported the proceedings just as they occurred, some of the more sensitive of the city fathers took umbrage at the style in which they were written, and withdrew the privi- leges of the chamber from him. IIe had, however, mean- while, obtained a position in the dry-goods house of Ham- ilton & White at $8 per month for one year, and thence passed to Hamlin & Day at $250 per annum. From there he went into the employ of Wadsworth & Phelps at $6co. Ilis aptness for business was soon apparent. He had skill in trading, managing and planning, together with an energy adequate to the carrying out of these plans. He foresaw the destiny of Chicago, and he had a high and abiding faith that that city was destined to become a great commercial emporium. When he became a partner in the firm he had served as a salesman his counsels had weight in the coun- cils of the concern. That was in 1851, when the house did a business of $100,000 per annum ; in 1868 it had increased to $10,000,000. In 18;6, through his persistency, the whole- sale mart on Wabash Avenue was built, though opposed by the senior member of the house at that period ; but time has demonstrated the wisdom of the undertaking. During the war of the Rebellion he was conspicuous in patriotic zeal and philanthropy. IIe was one of the prime movers in

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIAA.

raising the Board of Trade Regiment, as well as the $40,000 | ycars, handling many thousand head of stock, and more which its equipment and shipment cost. He contributed liberally to the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, espe- cially the latter, to which he gave much time, money and labor. He has been a zealous member of the Methodist Episcopal Church since he was fourteen years old. Small as was his first year's salary in Chicago, one-half of it went to the church of which he was a member, an act of rare self-sacrifice. In 1856 Mr. Moody started the Illinois Street Mission, designed especially to reach saloon boys, but it rapidly grew, and embraced all classes of outcast children, and from a feeble beginning has expanded into a church with a membership of three hundred, and a Sunday-school of nine hundred attendants. For the first ten years of its existence Mr. Farwell was the Superintendent, and he con- tributed $10,000 towards the building, besides about $1000 per annum for current expenses. He has manifested a great interest in the religious instruction of the prisoncrs in the Bridewell, and commenced holding religious services there in 1858; and by temperance appcals and lay preaching has effected a vast amount of good. In the Young Men's Chris- tian Association he has ever shown a deep interest, and to him, perhaps, more than to any other, is it indebted for its present prosperous condition. Personally, he is rather unde! the medium size, but of compact build. His step is quick and elastic, his eye kindly, and his countenance throughout strongly expressive of the energy of will, purity of purpose, and benevolence of disposition which are his dominant characteristics.

UNK, HON. ISAAC, late Farmer, Stock-raiser and Legislator, was born, November 17th, 1797, in Clark county, Kentucky. When nine years of age he accompanied his parents to their new home in Fayette county, Ohio, remaining with his father during his boyhood, and availing him- self of the slender opportunities afforded by the neigh- borhood in the matter of schooling. When he had attained the age of twenty-six years, he had already laid by from his labors a small sum of money, besides being the possessor of a good team and wagon; and with this he started, in the autumn of 1823, to seek his fortune, accompanied by an elder brother, in the then Far West. They reached the site of the present city of Terre Haute, Indiana, where they tarried until the spring of 1824; and thence moved west- ward to what is now Sangamon county, Illinois. From this point they turned northward, and soon after pitched upon the site since known as Funk's Grove, where they con- cluded to locate. After staking out their claims, and crecting houses and a shelter for their animals, they formed a co- partnership together, for the extension of their landed estate, and the pursuit of farming and stock-raising. Under this agreement, and by the terms of this copartnership, which was merely verbal, the brothers did business for seventeen

money probably than any two men in the State. They drove the cattle overland to Chicago or Galena, and brought back with them, on their return trip, all manner of supplies for themselves and neighbors. This copartnership was dis- solved by mutual consent, Isaac buying out his brother's in- terests in the land and other property. He thus became the owner of 27,000 acres of land in McLean county, 20,000 of which lay adjoining his old home at the Grove, and in one body, and during his active lifetime devoted nearly the whole of it to his specialty of stock-raising. During his eventful life he was twice called to sit in the councils of State. In 1840 he was elected, on the Whig ticket, to the lower House of the Legislature. In 1861 he was elected to fill the vacancy occasioned by the resignation of Richard Oglesby, and was re- elected in 1863, filling both terms to the entire satisfaction of his party and the people. It was during this term that he made for himself a very enviable record by his practical hard sense, liberality, and devotion to country. A measure was pending in the House to furnish supplies for Illinois troops, which the general government was unable to provide at the time. Objections were raised as to the obli- gation of the State, and a hot debate ensued. In a most remarkable speech he settled the question. He stated that he would sacrifice his entire property in aid of the measure, and then meet the men (its opponents) singly or collectively, as he said, "from the point of a pin to the mouth of a can- non." The fact of his being, so to speak, a practical work- ing man, uneducated, boasting of neither refinement nor oratorical ability, his considerable wealth, the earnestness of his manner, and his known will and ability to put his dec- laration into practical effect, rendered his words electrical. The measure was carried amid great enthusiasm, and he was congratulated on all sides. President Lincoln wrote him a private letter congratulating him on the great good the few words spoken by him had done in strengthening the Union cause and giving courage to the soldiers of the Northern army. He was a man of rare combinations for success in life. Of an energetic and industrious disposition, he was necessarily passionate ; but he had a heart throbbing in his bosom which kindly kept in check the human weakness. Of a combative temperament, he would often find himself the aggressor upon his friends ; but no sooner did he dis- cover his fault than he hastened to make amends. With this virtue he added forgiveness, and never was known to nurse a hatred when forgiveness was sought or mieritcd. He was peculiarly prompt and reliable in his money matters with men ; fair dealing and prompt compliance with any agreement were his characteristics. He was married in 1826 to Cassandra Sharp, and was the father of ten chil- dren, nine sons and one daughter. He died in the city of Bloomington, January 29th, 1865, and in three hours was followed by his wife. She had been for some time in deli- cate health, and the shock of her husband's death proved fatal.

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IRBY, EDWARD P., Lawyer, was born, October 28th, 1834, in Putnam county, Illinois, and is the eldest son of the late Rev. William and Hannah (Wolcott) Kirby. Rev. William Kirby was one of the founders and first Professors of Illinois College ; but owing to failing health, he was obliged to relinquish the latter position. IIe died December 20th, 1852, leaving a family of six children, the care and support of whom devolved on the eldest son. Judge Kirby was educated at Illinois College, and gradu- ated therefrom in 1854. In the autumn of that year he went to St. Louis, where he taught a private school for three years. On his return to Jacksonville he became the successor of Hon. Newton Bateman in the principalship of the West Jacksonville Grammar and High School. He commenced the study of law in 1863, and was admitted to practice in the following year. In 1865 he commenced the compilation of the Land Titles of Morgan county, Illinois, which he subsequently completed and still owns. In 1873 he was clected Judge of the County Court of Mor- gan county. IIe was married in 1862 to Julia S., daughter of the late Governor Duncan, of Jacksonville.

LOVER, REV. LIVINGSTON M., D. D., Clergy- man, was born, February 21st, 1819, in the town- ship of Phelps, Ontario county, New York, and is the son of Philander Glover, who removed from Massachusetts to the "Genesee country " in 1800. IIe is descended from English ances- try, traceable back to Saxon times, when the name was written Gelofre. Several persons of the name have been distinguished in the fatherland; as, Robert Glover, who perished at the stake in 1555, in the reign of " bloody Mary," and Richard Glover, an eminent poet, merchant, and member of Parliament, born in London in 1712, and who died in 1785 in that city, author of an epic called " Leonidas," also of several tragedies. About the year 1640, two brothers, John and Henry Glover, emigrated to America, and settled in New England, near Boston. From the latter of these the Rev. Dr. Glover is descended ; and his immediate ancestors were residents of Conway, Massachusetts, who left there, as already stated, in 1800. After passing a third of a century in New York State, his father removed, in 1833, to the then Territory of Michigan, and settled on Lodi Plains, near Ann Arbor, in Washtenaw county. Thither his son accompanied him, and up to the age of seventeen he acted the part of boys rearcd on a farm, following the plough, etc., but without any special fondness for an agricultural life, as his tastes, from early childhood, strongly inclined him to letters, study, and public life. Stories are narrated of his stopping the team in the field, and of his mounting a stump to exercise his gifts in declamation. When other boys of his age were at play, he | on various subjects in the religious and secular papers.

was engaged in writing articles for the village paper; so that his father early predicted the usclessness of inducing him to follow in his footsteps as an agriculturist. About the year 1834 a " Manual Labor School"-then very com- mon and a furore throughout the country-was cstablished in Ann Arbor, very near the site of the present University. He was enrolled among its first pupils, and for a year or more pursucd the studies preparatory to a college course, laboring four hours per day on the "school farm " in pay- ment for board. In the autumn of 1836 he entered the Freshman class in the Western Reserve College at Hudson, Ohio, from which institution he graduated at the commence - ment in 1840. After leaving college, he at once connected himself with the Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, studying for the ministry, to which he had devoted himself at the time of his conversion in 1836, although previous to that date his preferences led him in the direction of the law and of political life. Having passed two years in theological study, he was licensed to preach the gospel, and in October, 1842, took charge of the Presbyterian church of Lodi, Michigan, where his first profession of faith had been made. He continued at that place for six years, making proof of his ministry in a wide-spread country congregation, and among a people who had known him from boyhood, enjoying their confidence, and being very successful in his ministrations, proving somewhat of an exception to the rule that " a prophet is not without honor, save in his own coun- try." In the autumn of 1848 he received, very unexpect- edly, a call from the First Presbyterian church of Jackson- ville, Illinois, which, against the wishes of his people, he deemed it his duty to accept. He took charge of that im- portant congregation in October, 1848, and has continued to hold it until the present time. In October, 1873, the quarter-centennial of the pastorate was observed with ap- propriate and interesting ceremonies. His pastoral charge is now of a longer duration than any other of his denomi- nation in the State, and perhaps in the West. He received, in 1864, the honorary degree of Doctor in Divinity from Centre College, Kentucky. As a theologian, he has few equals in the country, and he is a most influential and use- ful clergyman and citizen ; and is a man of broad, liberal and Christian views. He has thoroughly identified himself with the educational and benevolent interests of the place. For eighteen years he was a member and Secretary of the Board of Trustees of Illinois College. He is now Presi- dent of the Board of Trustees of the Jacksonville Female Academy, and also President of the Board of Directors of " Oak Lawn Retreat," a private institution at Jacksonville for the treatment of the insane. He takes a firm and ad- vanced stand in the temperance reform, and in all kindred causes. In the course of his ministry he has published more than thirty discourses, ordinary and special, generally at the request of his people or of the community. In addi- tion to these, he has given to the world numerous articles

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Through the same medium he has published many poems of a moral and religious character, and, for the most part, lyrical in form. He has twice gone abroad; in 1858 he travelled through Europe, and as far east as Syria and Egypt ; and again in 1873, by appointment of the American General Assembly, he went as a delegate to the Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland, meeting in Edinburgh, while, at that time, he made an extensive tour through the British isles. IIe has been identified with Illinois during a period of wonderful development, and has seen the humble village of Jacksonville expand into a beautiful and thriving city of 10,000 to 12,000 inhabitants. From present appear- ances, he seems anchored for life among those where he has labored so long; and if he has a special ambition, it is rather to show the value of a permanent pastorate, by giving a worthy illustration of it, than to win the reputation which change might possibly secure. He was married in 1843 to Mareia A., daughter of Professor Rufus Nutting, of the Western Reserve College.

CLAUGHRY, ROBERT WILSON, Warden of the Illinois State Penitentiary, was born at Foun- tain Green, Haneock county, Illinois, July 22d, IS39. His parents removed to the State of Illi- nois from Delaware county, New York, in IS38. His early life was spent on a farm. At that early day in the history of the West, educational advantages were few, and the " old log school house" almost the only insti- tution of learning to be found. In one of these the boy re- ceived the rudiments of an English education, attending school during the winter months, and working on the farm during the summer. IIe also studied Latin and algebra pri- vately with the Presbyterian clergyman stationed in his native village, and in this way prepared himself for college. Enter- ing Monmouth College, Illinois, in 1856, as one of its first students, he graduated in 1860, in the first class that com- pleted its course in the young institution. No grades of scholarship were at that time established, but the fact that his time had been well improved was shown by his being chosen to the Professorship of Latin in the college immedi- ately upon his graduation. He served a year in this capacity, but the stirring scenes of the rebellion were at hand, and he could not longer remain a passive spectator. In July, 1861, he severed his connection with the college, removed to Car- thage, Illinois, and purchasing a paper, began in his native eounty to urge his fellow-eitizens to the support of the gov- ernment. The effort to raise volunteers was met in IIan- coek eounty with determined opposition on the part of lead. ing Demoerats. MeClaughry had voted for Douglas in 1860-his first vote-and claimed to be a Democrat, but, like Douglas, was earnest and enthusiastic in the support of the government, in its efforts to put down the rebellion. The contest in Hancock county waxed very bitter in the fall

of 1861, and during it all, not only in the columns of his paper but upon " the stump" in all parts of the county, was young McClaughry actively engaged in arousing the patri- otic sentiment of the country. In June, 1862, he married Elizabeth, eldest daughter of James G. Madden, of Mon- mouth, Illinois. In July, 1862, came the eall of the Presi- dent for " three hundred thousand more," and feeling that the time had now come to prove his faith by his works, he gathered around him a few of his eomrades, and together they repaired to a magistrate's office and were sworn into the service of the United States, as privates, " for three years, or during the war." The news of their enlistment having be- come noised about, other young men eame in and joined their number, until, in a very few days, a full company was enlisted. An election was held for captain, which resulted in the choice of the subject of this sketch by a unanimous vote. The work of enlistment, however, went on, until five companies were enrolled in the county. Captain Mc- Claughry took to Springfield the certificates of their organ- ization, and received orders from the Governor placing him in command of all companies raised in Hancock county, with authority to conduct them at once to rendezvous at Camp Butler, Illinois. This was done, and by the middle of August, 1862, the 118th Regiment Illinois Infantry was organized at Camp Butler. In this organization Captain McClaughry, then commanding Company B, was chosen to the office of Major. Returning for a few days to Car- thage, he hastily disposed of his newspaper, bid adieu to his young wife, and, rejoining his eommand, moved with it to Memphis, Tennessee, where it joined the expedition then fitting out under General Sherman to operate against Vicks- burg. During the winter of 1862-3, in the campaigns against Vieksburg by way of the Yazoo, against Arkansas Post and Young's Point, Louisiana, the 1ISth Illinois was always in the front, and Major McClaughry was always with his regiment. In the spring of 1863 he took an active part with his regiment in the campaign which resulted in the capture of Vicksburg, serving in General Osterhaus' Divi- sion of the 13th Army Corps. After the capture of Vicks- burg the 118th Illinois was transferred to the Department of the Gulf, when it was mounted and served in the cavalry divi- sion commanded by General A. L. Lee through the eam- paigns in Western Louisiana, the expedition to Pascagoula, and a part of the ill-starred Red River expedition. In April, 1864, Major McClaughry was appointed by the Presi- dent Paymaster United States Army and assigned to duty at Springfield, Illinois, where he continued on duty, paying off the soldiers who were mustered out, until October 13th, 1865, when he was honorably discharged at his own request, to enable him to aeeept the nomination for County Clerk in his native county of Hancock. He was elected to this offiee in November following, and served until Deeember Ist, 1869. During this time he had become interested in some extensive quarries near Keokuk, Iowa, and had re- ceived the contract for furnishing foundation stone for the

BIOGRAPIIICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

new State Capitol at Springfield. This contract was com- pleted in 1870. In 1871 Major McClaughry removed to St. Louis, having become interested in the quarries at Ste Genevieve, Missouri; but the climate of St. Louis proved unhealthy for himself and family and in 1872 he removed to Monmouth, Illinois. A portion of the year 1873 he spent in Colorado to regain his broken health. In July, 1874, he was offered the appointment of Warden of the Illinois State Penitentiary, at Joliet, Illinois, which he accepted for con- siderations affecting his health. He was at the time a candidate for nomination to Congress by the Republican Convention of the Tenth Congressional District of Illinois, but his acceptance of his present position virtually withdrew his name. Had he not done so there is no reason to doubt that he would have been nominated, as he had pledges of their support from most of the counties in the district. Had the nomination taken effect, his executive ability, decision of character and well-known qualifications as a first-class public speaker, would have given him a place amongst the foremost in the House of Representatives at Washington, and it is plainly his destiny to appear there, should health and strength be granted him.

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 14

Author: Robson, Charles, ed Publication date: 1875 Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy Number of Pages: 770

Author: Robson, Charles, ed
Publication date: 1875
Publisher: Philadelphia, Galaxy
Number of Pages: 770