The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 20

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

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IIILLIPS, REV. FRANKLIN W., Physician, Clergyman, and Superintendent of the Illinois Institution for the Instruction of the Blind, was born November 5th, 1827, on Lulbegun ereek, Montgomery county, Kentucky, and is a son of the late Rev. William Phillips, and a grandson of John Phillips, formerly of Dorchester county, Maryland. The latter, who married a Miss Brannock, removed to Kentucky soon after its admission into the Union. Of him it was said by his neighbors, " He was an honest miller." The son of the latter was a Methodist minister, and pos- sessed of considerable poetic talent, which, in an early period of his life, gained him great local reputation. When he became a minister he actively engaged in the theologi- eal conflict then being waged in Kentucky, and soon was noted as a polemic writer. At the time of his death, which was at the carly age of thirty-nine years, he was the Editor | tendent of the Illinois Institution for the Instruction of the

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

Blind, which position he still retains. IIe was married in | The following year he commenced farming on his lands in October, 1853, to L. J., a daughter of Rev. R. J. Dungan, of Kentucky, and has a family of three sons. Jersey county, where he continued until 1849, serving as Justice of the Peace during a portion of this time. When he commenced the farmer's life his health was not good, but under that discipline he improved considerably. In 1849 he was elected County Judge, being the first term of that office under the new Constitution of 1848. He held that position during two terms of four years each. In political views he was a Whig, and has since been an earnest Republican. During the late rebellion he distinguished himself greatly by his warm espousal of the cause of the Union. Few men in the State exercised a more salutary influence in this direction than himself. In June, 1862, he formed a law partnership with his son-in-law, William H. Pogue, and re-commenced the practice of law, in which he has since continued ; although he still devotes a consider- able portion of his timc to his farm. He is a most influ- ential and useful citizen ; and during his entire life has bcen an earnest, zealous Christian. He was married, in 1837, when but twenty years of age, to Harriet S., daughter of Samnel S. Allen, of Bristol, Rhode Island, who was then Collector of that port.

ONFIELD, JOSEPH F., Lawyer, was born August 15th, 1841, in Buffalo, New York, his parents being from Ireland. After an excellent prelimi- nary education he entered the University of Chicago, graduating therefrom in 1864, and from the law department of the same institution in 1865. IIe then commenced the practice of law in the city of Chicago, and despite the pressure of his legal duties gave a great deal of his time, abilities, and influence to the fur- therance of educational interests, serving five years as a member of the City Board of Education, and was otherwise identified with the city schools, and also with the University of Chicago, of the Board of Trustees of which he is at present an active member. He was a member of the Board of Trustees of Hyde Park, and its President in 1874-75. He has followed his profession closely, is an excellent law- yer, and has a very extended practice, largely connected with real estate litigation. For a young man he is very prominently identified with the city's growth and politics.

ARREN, GEORGE E., Farmer, Lawyer, and Judge, was born August 16th, 1817, in Worth- ington, Scioto county, Ohio, and is a son of Dr. Thomas and Martha (De Wolf ) Warren, the former being of Puritan origin, and the latter of Huguenot descent. His father passcd a con- sidcrable portion of his early manhood at sca, visiting ncarly every portion of the world, being both a supercargo and a physician. On his final return to the United States he passed four years in Ohio, and thence removed to Bris- tol, Rhode Island, and practised his profession as physician. During his residence there his son George enjoyed the best of educational advantages, completing his studies by a four years' course in Brown University, whence he graduated in the class of 1835. In October of the same year, in com- pany with his brother, sister, and father, he went to the western country. His father invested $6000 (which George had inherited from his grandfather) in an improved farm adjoining Jerseyville, and also in other lands in Jersey county, Illinois. Meanwhile, George went to Carrollton, in the same State, where he entered the office of Woodson & Hodges for the purpose of studying law; and at this time he acted as Deputy Circuit and County Clerk. In the autumn of 1837 he went to Jersey county, and remained on his farm until the following spring, when he removed to Alton, and completed his law studies in the office of Bullock & Keating, being admitted to the bar in the spring of 1839.

HOMAS, SAMUEL BARBER, Clerk of Grundy county, Illinois, was born in Chester county, Pennsylvania, October 20th, 1820. His father, William Thomas, was an iron moulder and founder. When the son was a year old the family moved to Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where hc attended common school until twelve years old. They then moved to Centre county, where hc clerked in a store for two years. He then worked in a foundry for a short time, and also sold butter and eggs along a road to the new town of Fanandsville, then being opened; then kept store and books for a canal contractor at Curtin's Forge a while; then clerked for four years in Spring Mills, and again at Linden Hall for three ycars; then kept books at Martha's Furnace; then was under manager of a furnace in Cambria county for a year ; then in a store in Bellefonte ; and then kept books at a furnace in Lewistown for a year. He then returned to Linden Hall and was engaged in the dry-goods and milling business there in partnership with W. Irvin for a year, when they sold out. His next move was to Clearfield county, and he was a partner with D. A. Stuart, in the lumber and dry-goods business for four years. He then went to Peru, Indiana, and, in partnership with his uncle, Joseph Thomas, graded part of the track of the Peru & Indianapolis Railroad. In 1854 he moved to Morris, Illinois, and became clerk in a dry-goods store. In 1855 he was married to Amanda J. Ferguson, of Geneseo, New York, and in the same year, in connection with his uncle, opened a dry-goods store, under the namc of J. Thomas & Co., and engaged also in mining coal, to dispose of which they opened a coal yard in Chicago; but,

BIOGRAPHIICAL ENCYCLOPAEDIA.

their capital being limited, they had to relinquish these enterprises after a period of two years. He was, in 1858, elected Justice of the Peace, in Morris, Illinois; in 1860 was an unsuccessful candidate for the office of Circuit Clerk ; and in 1861 was elected Clerk of Grundy county, and has been three times successively re-elected, covering in all a period of sixteen years. The duties of this posi- tion he still performs. He has also been connected with municipal affairs, and at one period filled the office of Mayor of the City of Morris, where he now resides.

Smith with the masses of the people, more particularly the manufacturing class, who find in him one always ready to listen to their wants and lend a helping hand. In manner he is entirely unassuming; in fact, he is a type of the true self-made man who has made his position entirely by his own industry and unswerving integrity. He was married in September, 1852, to Zippy Hanks, from Salem, Wash- ington county, New York, who still lives. He is a direc- tor and stockholder in the First National Bank of Quincy, and also holds a third interest in the grain elevator in that town.

MITH, JACOB M., Pork Packer and Curer, was born in Monroe county, Virginia, September 24th, IS26. He is a son of Merry W. and Lydia (Morris) Smith, both Virginians. When he was in his seventh year his parents removed to Shelby county, Indiana, and in 1840 came to Adams county, Illinois, settling at Burton, about nine miles from Quincy, where the father still lives on his farm and enjoys the respect of all who come in contact with him. Jacob M. at an early age was apprenticed to learn the cooper's trade, which he thoroughly mastered in all its branches. Being of an independent disposition he determined to do for himself, and at the same time, acknowledging the obli- gations due his. father, he bought his time from him when seventeen years of age, by getting out the wood and mak- ing him 1000 flour barrels, which were valued at about $350. This accomplished, he launched out for himself, and went to Payson in Adams county, bought a lot and erected a shop to carry on his coopering trade, in the spring of 1846. IIe remained here, however, but a short time, when he contracted with parties to go to Palmyra, Missouri, and pursue his trade there, they agreeing to take all the barrels he could manufacture with a force of eight men. His productions here, however, were much greater than the contracting parties could make use of, and they were glad to cancel their contract by paying $1000 for a release. He then returned to Burton and carried on his trade there until 1850, when he came to Quincy and en- gaged in mercantile business up to 1860. In IS55 he added to his business that of packing and curing pork, and since 1860 has confined himself exclusively to that branch of trade. In this business, as in all occupations in which he has ever engaged, he has made himself thorough master in every detail, and his energy and judgment have been such that to-day the house of Smith & Farlon are the largest dealers in their line in Quincy. Devoting his entire time to the able management of his business, he has discarded politics almost entirely ; yet in the spring of IS75 he was called upon to accept the Republican nomi- nation for Mayor of the town, and was elected, notwith- standing the town is largely Democratic. This fact can be accounted for only by the extreme popularity of Mr. and in all that concerns the welfare and progress of that

"USHING, GEORGE H., D. D. S., Dentist, was born in Providence, Rhode Island, in May, 1829. His parents were Henry and Harriet (Philbrook) Cushing; his father was, for a number of years, Treasurer of the Providence Savings Institution, and while acting in that responsible capacity, performed the functions of his office with exactitude and recognized ability. He acquired his preliminary education in the public schools of his native place, and, at the completion of an elementary course of studies, in 1847, entered the office of N. A. Fisher, M. D., in Providence, to learn the dental profession. At that date, Dr. Fisher, long recognized as one of the leading and most skilful dental practitioners in the State, had given up the active practice of medicine in general, and was restricting himself almost entirely to that of dentistry-this step being rendered necessary by his enfeebled state of health. After remaining under the supervision of his instructor for a term of two years, he resolved to establish a practice of his own, and with this end in view he located himself in Bristol, Rhode Island. His stay in that town, however, was brief. The memorable gold fever convulsing the country in 1849, he, with so many others anxious to set foot in the western El Dorado, moved to California. In that region he remained for about six years, the greater portion of his time being occupied in the active practice of his profession. Returning to Providence in the fall of 1856, he placed in order his business matters in that city, and in the spring of the following year moved to Chicago, Illinois. This he did in order to take the place of Dr. Charles HI. Quinlan, one of the most skilful and reliable dental practitioners of the Northwest section, one who- through his perseverance and abilities-had acquired an extensive and remunerative practice; associated with the latter was his brother, John D. Quinlan. Subsequently he connected himself in partnership with the brothers, and the firm continued without change until its dissolution, in 1866. Ile then prosecuted successfully the practice of his profession alone, adding to his reputation as a dentist of skill and ingenuity. On the formation of the Illinois State Dental Association, he was one of the charter members,

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institution has ever evinced a warm and unflagging interest ; | became a member of the new organization, espousing its of the above association he was also for one year President. He is also a member, and was for one year President, of the American Dental Association, and is an irregular con- tributor to the various dental journals. In 1858 he was married to May Larward, daughter of the late Major Charles H. Larward, United States Army, formerly a resi- dent of Rhode Island. She died shortly after marriage, and in 1860 he was married to her sister, Minnie Lar- ward, who is still living.

COTT, IION. JOHN M., Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois, was born near Belle- ville, Illinois, August Ist, IS23, He is of Scotch- Irish extraction, but his immediate ancestry were born in Virginia; before the organization of the State his parents emigrated to Illinois, and were among the earlier settlers of this section of the Northwest. He was, in a large measure, dependant upon the facilities offered by the common schools for his early education ; subsequently, under private tuition, he acquired a fair knowledge of Latin, and unusual proficiency in the higher branches of mathematics. During his youth he formed the determination to embrace the legal profession, and, with that end in view, engaged in school teaching until he became a student in the law office of Kinney & Bissell, then ranking among the leading practitioners of southern Illinois. IIe studied the elementary books of the science with diligence, and gleaned from them that system of sound legal philosophy which later characterized his practice and teachings. After his admission to the bar, in 1848, he removed to McLean county, and there commenced the active practice of his profession. In the earlier settlement and history of the State, St. Clair county was the centre of civilization, while Chicago was known simply as a place at the mouth of the Chicago river, and at the date of his admission to practice McLean county was but in its infancy ; no system of railroads existed, and that splendid development which has since impressed itself upon the eentral portion of Illinois was but dimly deciphered in the future. At this time there were at the bar of McLean eounty many lawyers of distinction and ability : Judge Davis, Abraham Lincoln, General Gridley, John T. Stuart and many other distinguished practitioners. In 1849, being then in possession of an extensive and remunerative clientage, he was elected School Commissioner of the and admirable dignity. IIe looks upon the law as county, and served in that capacity with energy and ability a system of social and political philosophy, and not as a collection of arbitrary rules founded on technical distinction. ITis style as a judge is elear, accurate and concise, and in reading his opinions no doubt is left on the mind as to the point decided; his language until 1852. In the latter year, he was elected Judge of the County Court, having been in the meanwhile elected also City Attorney of the city of Bloomington. From his boy- hood he had been an ardent Whig, and a warm admirer of Henry Clay ; and upon the dissolution of the old party, is chaste and forcible, while his composition is a model and the subsequent formation of the Republican party, he |of judicial statement.

policy, and adhering consistently to its principles and ex- ponents when it had neither favor to expect nor patronage to bestow. In 1856 he was nominated for State Senator in a district governed completely by anti-Republican senti- ments; he then canvassed the district thoroughly, and was noted as the first openly avowed anti-slavery man who had delivered political speeches as a candidate for office in the surrounding region. Although defeated, it was by a much smaller majority than his most sanguine supporters had expected. Upon the appointment of Judge Davis to the Supreme bench of the United States, in 1862, he was, with singular unanimity on the part of the bar of the circuit, solicited to become a candidate to succeed to the position left vacant by that distinguished jurist. The sentiment of the bar proved to be but the reflex of the will of the people, and he was elected without opposition. After having served the unexpired term, he was re-elected, and again without opposition. Under his new election he continued to discharge the duties of Circuit Judge until August, IS70. The new constitution, adopted July 2nd, 1870, provided that the State should be divided into seven judicial dis- tricts, and that the Supreme Court should consist of seven instead of three judges; this change made it necessary to elect four persons living in the districts ; not having a repre- sentation in the Supreme Court, as organized under the old constitution. For several months prior to this time, he had been prominently mentioned in connection with a position on the Supreme bench; the district in which he resided extended from the Illinois river on the west to the Wabash on the east, as far north as Livingston, and as far south as Coles county, and in that district resided many lawyers noted for both rectitude and learning. Receiving, however, the indorsement of a majority of the bar, he distanced all competitors, and was elected Judge of the Supreme Court of the State for the Third District for nine years, from August, 1870. Although still in his prime, he has been importantly identified with the judicial history of the State, both as a lawyer and as a judge, and is the first native who has been honorcd with the distinction of a seat on the bench of the Supreme Court. Ilis name first appears in the "3d Gilman," and his published opinions, commencing with the " 54th Illinois," continuc down to the present time. By the allotment made by the judges, his term as Chief-Justice commenced at the June term of 1875, and thus far his administration has been characterized by scrupulous justice

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

EVAN, THOMAS, M. D., was born in Cincin- nati, Ohio, June 11th, 1830. His father, Thomas Bevan, came to this country from England in 1816, and was one of the adventurous carly pioneers who, settling in the southern section of Ohio, reclaimed that portion of the now populous State from a condition of primitive and perilous wildness. His mother was Elizabeth (Dean) Bevan, for- merly a resident of the State of Virginia. Ilis preliminary education was acquired in the public schools of the city of his birth, whence he entered the seminary at Covington, Kentucky, and prosecuted a course of studies in the higher branches. Subsequently, selecting the medical profession, he matriculated at the Ohio Medical College, Cincinnati, in 1847, graduating in 1851. In order to add still further to his professional acquirements, he immediately departed for the continent, and entered the Medical Department of" the famous University of France, at Paris. IIcre he re- mained for a period of two years, during which time he was constantly occupied in patient study and research. On his return to the United States, he commenced to practice in Cincinnati, Ohio; but a few months later, in the summer of 1854, he removed to Chicago, Illinois, where he has since remained in active practice. In 1867 he became a member of the faculty of the Chicago Medical College, as Professor of llygiene, which chair he has since filled in the most creditable and satisfactory manner. IIe is also one of the medical staff of the Cook County Hospital, from the Chicago Medical College, and for the past ten years has been one of the clinical lecturers at that hospital. As a lucid and able lecturer, he has secured a widespread and merited reputation in the northwest; while his sterling talents, natural and acquired, won for him at an early date the esteem and admiration of those best qualified to pro- nounce upon his merits. He was married, in IS53, to Sarah E. Ramscy, of Cincinnati, Ohio.

TREVELL, JASON W., ex-Senator and Lawyer, was born in Berne, Albany county, New York, on February 8th, 1832. Ilis father was a farmer, and for a long time he pursued on the latter's estate the agricultural labors required in its development. Ile commenced an academical course at Rensselaerville, in the same county, in his fif- teenth year, and after its completion read law for a time with the firm of Peckham & Tremain, of Albany, employ- ing his spare hours in teaching. In the fall of 1855 he removed from Albany to Pontiac, Illinois, where he has since resided. Here he continued his. legal studies, and commenced practice, but l is attention for some years was almost wholly absorbed in a mercantile enterprise in which he embarked with an associate from Albany. In 1864 he was elected to the lower house of the Illinois Legislature,

on the Republican ticket. Illinois was the seat of a great political campaign, which for a long time had been con- ducted on opposite sides by the late President Lincoln and the late Senator Douglas. It was Mr. Strevell's good fortune to enjoy a close acquaintance with Mr. Lincoln, and during the war, as well as during the various political eras in that State, to offer him no uninfluential support. Ilis most conspicuous service in the Legislature was to stay the tide of special legislation, which for years had been enacted in favor of private corporations; and in this service, so much needed by the people, he obtained a great reputation as an able and conscientious statesman, and secured the reward of popular esteem. In 1868 he was returned as State Senator, and served honorably for four years, and during this service assisted in securing a much- needed Reform School for Juvenile Offenders and Vagrants, which was separated from the other State penal institutions. This school is located at Pontiac, and its results have realized the assertions which he made in favor of its establishment, that it would be of incalculable benefit to the Commonwealth. Upon the expiration of his term in the Senate, he resumed the practice of law, and soon achieved the reputation of a profoundly-read and acute jurist. IIe has been for years a leading Republican in his section, and his social qualities, together with his publie spirit, which has brought him into the active support of needed improvements, and his generosity, have won for him the respect of the entire community where he resides.

URLBUT, VINCENT L., M. D., was born in West Mendon, Monroe county, New York, June 28th, IS29. IIis father, Horatio Nelson Hurl- but, M. D., established himself in Chicago, Illinois, in 1851, and is one of the oldest and most widely known medical practitioners of that city. His mother, Sabina (Lombard) Hurlbut, was a native and former resident of Montpelier, Vermont. His education was acquired in the Jefferson Academy, located in Jefferson, Ashtabula county, Ohio; an institution in which were taught the higher branches, ancient and modern languages, etc. Upon the completion of his allotted course of studies in the academy, he decided to embrace the medical profession, and immediately commenced read- ing medicine under the able guidance and careful super- vision of his father ; he attended the first course of lectures at the Cleveland Medical College, in the winter of 1849 and 1850. IIe had intended to complete his studies at Jefferson College, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, but was induced finally to abandon that desire, and in the winter of 1851 and 1852 he matriculated at the Rush Medical College, of Chicago, Illinois. He then entcred into active 'practice in Chicago, and, meeting rapidly with merited success, has since continued to reside permanently

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

in that city. He is one of the Surgeons of the Women's | mained over a year in that service. In December, 1824, Hospital of the State of Illinois, located in Chicago, and during the past three years has acted in that capacity, evincing in the performance of his professional duties the possession of skilful resources and a high order of talents, sustained by the varied experience of the last twenty-five years. Warmly interested in the Masonic Order, his record in the contemporary annals of that venerable institution is wholly honorable ; he is Deputy Grand Master of the Grand Encampment of the Knight Templars of the United States, and also an active member of Supreme Council " 33." In all matters pertaining to the social progress of those sur- rounding him, he is a generous and unostentatious helper, and is warmly interested in the welfare and advancement of his adopted State and county.

HOMAS, HON. WILLIAM, Lawyer and Jurist, was born November 22d, 1802, in what was then Warren, but is now Allen county, Kentucky. ITis parents were natives of Virginia, who in their infancy removed with their parents to Ken- tucky soon after the termination of the Indian wars, and married in 1800. They settled in the woods, where they opened a farm, on which they resided over fifty years. ITis education included only the rudimentary branches, and was obtained in the rude log cabins of that early day. When he was sixteen years of age, his father, who was then sheriff of the county, appointed him his deputy ; his duties being confined to serving notices, summoning witnesses, and collecting taxes. At the expiration of his father's official term, he was made Deputy Clerk of the County Court of Allen county, receiving in lieu of salary his board and clothing. IIe remained in that position about two years, when he accepted a similar place in the county of Warren, at a salary of $200, and there he continued also for a year and a half. While attending to the duties of these offices he became familiar with the forms of deeds, mortgages, and other instruments used in the transaction of business, and also with the forms used in proceedings in the courts; also with the modes of proceeding and rules of de- cisions upon questions of practice. On leaving the Clerk's office, his friends advised him to study and follow the pro- fession of the law. At this time IIon. James T. Moorehead, of Bowling Green, who was afterwards Governor of the State, and a United States Senator, tendered him the use of his office and library free of charge, while his father pro- posed to board him, and wait for his pay from the fees he should receive after his admission to practice. He accepted these kind offers, and his law license was issued July 5th, 1823, when he engaged in professional duties with Coun- sellor Moo ehead, who had a large practice in Logan county, as attorney for a bank located at Bowling Green, to attend to which Lawyer Thomas went to Russellville, where he re-

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 20

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