The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 29

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

USA > Illinois > The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century > Part 29

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).

RCHIER, WILLIAM R., Lawyer, was born in New York city, New York, April 13th, 1817. His parents were Richard P. Archer, formerly engaged in mercantile pursuits, and Jane (Alcock) Archer, a native of Ireland. His preliminary education was acquired at Flushing, Long Island, whence he removed to New York city, and under the super- vision of John L. Lawrence prepared himself for the legal profession. At the termination of the allotted period of probation, he passed his examination and was admitted to the New York bar, February 23d, 1838. Removing sub- sequently to Pittsfield, Illinois, he was there admitted to the bar in August of the same year. He then commenced the active practice of his profession, and rapidly acquired an extensive clientage. In 1847 he was a member of the Constitutional Convention from Pike county, and while acting in that capacity evinced the possession of sterling qualities. He was also elected Clerk of the Circuit Court assertion, and great ability in legal matters, and has done | and Recorder for Pike county, an office which he occupied good service for the county in which he resides.

for a term of four years. In 1861 he was elected a member

129

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

of the Illinois Legislature, representing the counties of Pike and Brown. In 1869 he was elected to the Constitu- tional Convention which convened in 1870, and in IS72 was elected to the State Senate from the Thirty-eighth Dis- trict, comprising Pike, Scott and Calhoun counties. Still occupying the latter position, his performance of its respon- sible functions is characterized by energy and ability, and the interests of his constituents have been faithfully fostercd by him in many effective ways. A talented practitioner and one acquainted thoroughly with the many shifting currents and undercurrents of political life, his course both as lawyer and official has never been sullied by a doubtful or dishon- orable action. In all that relates to the social welfare and political advancement of his adopted State and county he is an earnest worker; and both in a private and public ca- pacity has exerted himself ably in aiding to secure their ad .. vancement and improvement. He was married February Ist, 1838, to Ann Maria Smith, daughter of Jonas Smith, a former resident of Long Island, New York. She died September 26th, 1859, with issue of seven children, five of whom are now living. He was again married, December 15th, 1860, to Henrietta E. Sergeant, daughter of Colonel Aaron Sergeant, of New York city, and by her he has had one child, who is still living.

RIMBLE, CAIRO D., Clerk of the Supreme Court, was born in Wilmington, Clinton county, Ohio, July 18th, 1829. His father, Matthew Trimble, was a farmer, and Cairo assisted him upon the farm. He attended the common schools of the vicinity until fourteen years old, when the family removed to Princeton, Illinois. Ile then entered the High School, and afterward took a scientific course at Eureka College, in Woodford county, Illinois. With failing health he returned home in 1853, and after a time entered upon the profession of teaching, in which he was engaged until March 26th, 1856, when he was married to Clara A. Dwight of Belchertown, Massachusetts. Thereupon he engaged in farming, opening a new farm on the prairie in Bureau county, and continuing upon it until the close of 1860. In December, 1860, he received the appointment of Deputy Clerk of the Circuit Court of Bureau county, and soon after entered the field of politics. In November, 1865, he was elected Clerk of the County Court of that county, and served a term of four years. In the fall of 1860 he assisted in the organization of a printing and publishing company, which laid the foundations of the Bureau County Herald, a distinctively Republican journal, of which he is still a stockholder. During his residence in Princeton he was for several years connected with the Board of Directors of the Union Schools, and also discharged several other public trusts of varied importance. In 1872 he was elected Clerk of the Supreme Court for the Northern Grand Division of Illinois for a term of six years. The previous incumbent

¡ resigning before the expiration of his term, Mr. Trimble was appointed by the court also to fill the vacancy. He entered the duties of his office in February, 1873, and removed to Ottawa, where the office of this division is located, in the succeeding fall. He is known in northern Illinois as a firm adherent of the Republican party, and in connection with it received his political preferment, and incidentally the foundation of his success in life.

EMPSTEAD, HON. EDWARD, Lawyer, first Delegate to Congress from the western side of the Mississippi river, representing Missouri Ter- ritory from 1811-1814, was born in New London, Connecticut. His father was Stephen Hemp- stead, the celebrated Revolutionary patriot re- ferred to in the article on Charles S. Hempstead. In early life he received a classical education under the able pre- ceptorship of Rev. Amos Basset, a gentleman of piety and learning, in the town of Hebron, Connecticut. Subse- quently, upon attaining his eighteenth year, he began the study of law under the instruction of Sylvester Gilbert, and finished under Enoch Huntington, both of Connecticut, and was licensed in ISO1. " The most appalling period of a young man's life had now arrived. The narrowness of fortune had been sufficiently felt while at school, and while in the studies of the law, but in these situations his expenses were not so great, and individual exertions contributed to the fund which a parent could spare. But in entering upon the practice of the law additional expenses were incurred, auxiliary labors became incompatible, and yet for some years the young practitioner had seen but little chance of deriving support from his practice. People are unwilling to trust him with business until he has shown himself cap- able, and he cannot show himself until he shall do busi- ness." Of difficulties of this nature he had primarily a large share, but far from sinking under them, he seemed but to gain additional strength and buoyancy. In a year's practice in Middlesex, Connecticut, and two years' practice at New- port, Rhode Island, he had secured a fair position at the bar, had acquired a remunerative practice, and won the esteem of many of the older practitioners. While at the latter place lie became associated in a law partnership with Hon. Asher Robbins, a distinguished member of the Rhode Island bar, and subsequently one of the Senators of that State in Congress. Upon the acquisition by our govern- ment from France of the vast possessions included in the province of Louisiana, he decided to remove to the ncw country, confident that there was to be found a wider and greater field for the profitable exercise of skill and energy. Upon this resolution he acted with such promptitude that before the close of July, 1804, he was at Vincennes, where he became acquainted with Governor William II. Harrison, temporarily controlling the newly-acquired province as an

130

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

appendage to the government of Indiana, who appointed him to several important local positions. Upon the ar- rival of General Wilkinson as Governor of Upper Louisiana, the appointments he had held were resigned, in this acting in accordance with his belief that they could not with honor be retained. He thought he saw in the civil govern- ment of the General the same predilection for absolute authority, and the same expectation of passive obedience in the civil department which prevailed in the military, and to this he could not bring himself to give submission. Differing radically from the General on many important points, and choosing to preserve his independence and avoid collisions, he resigned his appointments accordingly, and closely followed his profession as a lawyer. He settled finally at St. Louis, and entered at once into an extensive and successful practice of law in the counties of Upper Louisiana, adjacent to St. Louis, and in the counties of the "Illinois country," on the Mississippi river, opposite. In 1812, when the Territory of Louisiana was admitted to the grade of territorial government and became entitled to a delegate in Congress, it was justly considered a most honor- able distinction to be the first delegate from the west bank of the Mississippi, and he was selected by his fellow-citizens to fill that position. He served ably through one term of two years, and having obtained the passage of various laws of the first importance for the adjustment of land claims, and for the defence of the exposed posts of Missouri Terri- tory, he declined a re-election and resumed his professional occupation. While acting in that capacity he evinced the possession of sterling talents, and, by the vigorous and con- stant exercise of his abilities, elicited the highest encomiums from every quarter. He afterwards showed his disposition to be useful to his country by accepting inferior stations, after having voluntarily retired from the highest which the votes of his fellow-citizens could confer upon him. During the war which followed he went out with several expeditions to protect the frontiers from the hostile Indians, and after- wards served in the General Assembly of the Territory, of which he was elected Speaker in the popular branch. Soon after his settlement in St. Louis, he married into one of the most respectable families of the place, but left no surviving issue. His private life was an example of all that is de- sirable in the character of husband, father, son and brother. No sooner had he established himself in Missouri than he brought to the new home his aged parents, and extended to his brothers and sisters assistance of a most kindly and liberal nature. In 1817, when in the flower of life and the full tide of usefulness and fame, when his fellow-citizens were counting upon his further services in the approaching establishment of a State government in Missouri, his life was suddenly terminated by a fatal illness. He died August 10th, and on the ensuing 13th was interred. " The most numerous concourse ever seen in our country upon such an occasion followed his remains to the grave, and the spon- taneous feeling expressed by all showed that the public felt

that the country had sustained an irreparable loss in the death of such a citizen." His death was the result of an accident, which occurred while he was assisting his friend, Ilon. John Scott, of Genevieve, then a candidate for Congressional honors, in a campaign ; he fell from his horse and received a severe injury, whose after effects were incur- able and fatal.

WANNELL, WILLIAM G., Banker, was born in Lincolnshire, England, October 11th, 1823. His parents were John Swannell, a dry-goods merchant of London, and Temperance Gordon. Leaving his country he came to the United States in 1848, travelled westward, and settled finally in Momence, Kankakee county, Illinois, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. In 1855 he removed to Kankakee, and there established himself in the drug business, con- tinuing thus occupied until 1869. In 1870 he organized the banking firm of Swannell & Ennis-known as the " Commercial Bank of Swannell & Ennis." His time and attention are now devoted entirely to his banking interests, which are in a thriving and prosperous condition ; and both he and his associate possess the esteem and confidence of the general community. His business, primarily established on a firm basis, is conducted with skill and care, and the management of his financial enterprises is characterized by prudence and foresight. In all that relates to the well- being and advancement of his adopted State and country he is an earnest co-worker, and in many ways has con- tributed effectively to their prosperity. For two years, 1863 and 1864, he was Mayor of the town, and while acting in that capacity gave general satisfaction to his fellow-citizens. He was married in 1856 to Laura A. Bristol, a former resident of New York State.

'ATON, HON. JOHN DEAN, LL. D., Ex-Chief- Justice of the Supreme Court of the State of Illinois, was born in Monroe, Orange county, New York, March 19th, 1812. His grandfather, who had at one time been connected with the British army, settled in Maryland prior to the Revolution, and at the uprising of the colonies against the mother country two of his sons, one of whom was Robert, left home and joined the Federal army. Robert was then but fourteen years of age, and he and his brother served throughout the war of the Revolution, and when their army corps was disbanded on the banks of the Hudson, they settled upon farms in the neighborhood. Robert became not only a farmer, but a Quaker preacher. Ile was thrice married, and sixteen children were born to him, all of whom grew to maturity. He died when John Dean, his fifteenth child, and twelfth son, was but three years old. After his death his family removed to Paris, Oneida county,

yours truly

131

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

New York, where John Dean, at the age of five, com- nienced attending the public schools of the district. When nine years old he went to Chenango county to follow agri- cultural pursuits, but in a few weeks returned home and began farming in the vicinity to help his mother. He worked industriously throughout the spring and summer months, and became a regular and earnest attendant of the winter schools. When sixteen years of age his family re- moved to Utica, New York, where he entered an academy and pursued its studies for one year, acquiring a very sub- stantial education, mainly by his constant self-application. When seventeen he taught school for a time in Geneva, New York, receiving $10 per month, and then returned to farm labors near Utica. The ensuing winter he taught at a place called Chuckery, receiving $14 per month, then the highest compensation paid to teachers. With the desire of amplifying his store of knowledge, he entered, when nine- teen, the Grosvenor High School, in Romc, New York, associating in his studies with Hon. N. B. Judd and Hon. Anson Miller, who subsequently became, like himself, so prominent in the history of the settlement and progress of Illinois. He studied surveying, and obtained such practi- cal skill in this profession as to find employment in the county and thus to support himself. Upon leaving school he commenced to read law with Beardsley & Matterson, having when fifteen years of age had his ambition directed to the profession of the law, in which he subsequently so eminently distinguished himself, by reading in one of the papers of that day a speech delivered by Benton in Con- gress. It was in fact the first profound and eloquent argu- ment he had ever read, and he aspired to possess that depth of thought and legal knowledge which rendered Benton so conspicuous in the debates of the National Congress. After studying with Beardsley & Matterson for one year he studied with Mr. Barnes, of Rome, finding Mr. Judd, his old school associate, reading under the same preceptor, and after remaining a year in the office of that lawyer studied a few months with J. II. Collins, at Vernon, Oneida county. On the Ist of May, 1333, he started West with his younger brother, finding a place for him at Ann Arbor, and continu- ing his own journcy farther into the interior of Michigan. While thus toiling on he for the first time learned of the existence of Chicago, and decided upon going thither, reaching it after a weary journey, and finding it a place with but two hundred souls within its limits. IIere, under what appeared the most unpromising circumstances, he commenced the practice of. his profession. At first the want of other accommodations compelled him to receive and hear, and advise his clients on a log, or dry-goods box, or upon the river bank. With the exception of one gentle- man, who had preceded him by only a few days, he was the first resident lawyer who ever brought a case into the Court of Record of Cook county. IIe soon after made a tedious journey of three hundred miles on horseback to Greenville, Illinois, where he was admitted to the bar of

that State. The exposure to which ne was subject, while en route to this place through unbroken forests and un- settled prairies, prostrated him with a severe illness from which he did not recover until the close of the year. Early in January, 1834, having regained his health, he conducted the first United States post coach that ever went through to Ottawa, and reached its destination in safety. He was in reality the only man then to be found who had been over the ground and knew the way. On this trip he fell in with his old law preceptor, Mr. Collins, who had migrated West to become a farmer, and had been sadly beset by continued misfortune. Physically he was in a sad plight, the severity of the winter and his exposure having laid him up with badly frozen feet. Mr. Caton brought him to Chicago, and supported and cared for him until his strength was fully restored, and then formed with him a law partnership which was continued until July, 1835, when Mr. Caton went to New Hartford, ncar Utica, New York, where he was married on the 29th of the same month to Laura Adelaide Sherrill of that place. He returned with his wife to Chicago by way of the lakes, having taken passage on the first trip of the " Queen Charlotte," a vessel which had been captured by Perry from the British in the War of 1812, was sunk in the harbor of Erie, and had been recently raised and repaircd. He resumed his law practice, which he continued alone until 1836, when, by letter, he invited Mr. Judd, his early school-mate, to come to Chicago and enter into partnership with him. This proposition was accepted, the copartnership was formed, and it continued until 1839, when Mr. Caton, having been emaciated by the most continuous and arduous labors, removed to Plainfield, Illinois. IIe purchased near this place a farm of fifteen hundred acres, and for a number of years was both lawyer and agriculturalist. This dual profession worked beneficially. It kept him in a practice which was daily growing in impor- tance, and it gave him that manual labor which was so much necded to give him robust health and strength. In 1842, when only thirty years of age, he was appointed by Governor Carlin as Judge of the Supreme Court of the State for the winter term. There were nine of these judges, cach holding a Circuit Court in the summer, and all to- gether constituting in the winter a general Supreme Court. IIis circuit embraced twelve counties, including La Salle county, and at Ottawa, the county-seat of that county, he took up his residence immediately after his appointment. In the following spring, having filled the unexpired term to which the Governor had appointed him, he was a candi- (late for the same position, but was defeated by reason of the prevalent impression that he was too young for the office. Ilowever, the position soon became vacant by the death of his successful opponent before the people, and he was ap- pointed by Governor Ford to fill it. Ile was re-elected by the Legislature for the succeeding term, and served as Judge of the Supreme Court of the State until 1849, when the new Constitution abolished the court of nine judges, and

I32

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

created one of three judges, who were to be elected by the | such an occupation, made him profound in his knowledge people. At the ensuing election he was chosen for the Su- of the law. He earned a high reputation by his forensic efforts as a lawyer, but it was as a judge, whose mind was unsusceptible of impure bias, that he won his distinction. His process of reasoning was deliberate, uninvolved, and conclusive, and his decisions are models in their composi- tion, in the perspicuity of their logic, and in their sound interpretation of the law. In addition to all these varied pursuits which have given such a wide range to his talents and activity, he is an author, and has published valuable papers on the " Origin of the Prairies," on the "American Deer," and on the " Last of the Illinois Indians," which give evidence of much research. In December, 1862, he wrote to the Hon. Horatio Seymour a letter on the " Posi . tion and Policy of the Democratic Party," which was the subject of very general comment. He has delivered many addresses, but those which are most memorable are his re- marks upon his retirement from the Supreme Bench of Illinois, and his address on behalf of the Western alumni, at the presentation of Perry H. Smith Library Hall to the trustees of Hamilton College, both of which were subse- quently published. In 1874 he purchased a house in Chicago, where he passes his winters, living at Ottawa in the summer time. He recently issued a volume of travels, entitled "A Summer in Norway," and is now preparing an exhaustive work on the American Cervus. There is per- haps no man in Illinois whose varied labors, both in civil and official capacities, have secured a more general appreci- ation on the part of the public. He stands in the highest cstimation. His name, which has become a synonym for true nobility of manhood, is known not only in his own State, but throughout the Northwest. The growth has been co- existent with the growth of Illinois, and its splendid enter- priscs, its expanding influence, and its substantial prosperity are in no small degree due to the public spirit, the rare talent, and the magnetic power of John Dean Caton. preme Bench, his coadjutors being Judges Trumbull and Treat, and under the new organic law they were not to hold circuit courts. He drew by lot the six years' term, and dur- ing the last three months of this period, by seniority of com- mission, he held the position of Chief-Justice. In 1855 his term expired, and he was re-elected to the same bench, and in 1858, by the resignation of Chief-Justice Scates, he again became Chief-Justice, and continued in that distinguished capacity until 1864, when he resigned. For nearly twenty- two years he served the State in its highest judicial tribunal. In 1850 he studied the art of telegraphy, became soon a practical and skilful operator, constructed subsequently the Illinois and Mississippi lines, and bought up the territorial rights which they afterwards covered. In 1867 he rented by perpetual lease these lines to the Western Union Tele- graph Company. For several years he maintained at Ottawa an establishment for the manufacture of telegraphic instruments, which he also sold to the Western Union Com- pany. In 1860 he became the President of the Illinois Starch Factory, at Ottawa, and raised that establishment to a condition of the most flourishing prosperity. He is in addition President and chief owner of an extensive and profitable glass factory in the same place. He still owns and manages a farm of nearly fourteen hundred acres at Plainfield, and under his careful supervision it has become one of the finest in Will county. Attached to his fine resi- dence at Ottawa is a large farm, and a beautiful park, alto- gether comprising about one hundred and thirty-five acres, in which he keeps about seventy-five deer, comprising every species known to North America. Here he has also successfully domesticated the American wild turkey. In 1864 he retired from the practice of the legal profession, and in 1865 made an extensive European tour, travelling through England, Scotland, France, and Italy, and upon his return in 1866, with the desire of fully understanding the immensity of his own country, he travelled several years through it, going into every section, and visiting the Pacific Coast three times. Ile visited Cuba, and again made his ENDALL, MILO, Lawyer, was born in Waterford, Vermont, April Ist, 1819, his father being a well- known farmer of that section. IIis opportunities for education were only those afforded by a country school. When cighteen years of age he pursued an academic course. In 1842 he com- menced the study of law, finishing his preparations for the way to Europe, going through Norway, Sweden, and Den- mark, and stopping for a time in IHammerfest, the most northern town in the world. Ever since his attaining man- hood he has been inspired with a desire for constant study, contracting early a habit of reading, which comprised all that was useful and æsthetic in literature. His varied tastes and occupations gave a very wide range to his studies, | profession under the preceptorship of Thomas Bartlett, of and enabled him to secure a fund of practical information Lindon, Vermont. He moved to Knoxville, Illinois, in 1845, and in the same year was admitted to the Illinois bar. In 1846 he settled in Princeton, and established a practice which became both large and profitable, and in which he has been ever since engaged. He was married in 1848 to Miss Orpha Ide, of St. Lawrence county, New York. In 1847 he formed a law partnership with George O. Ide, his wife's nephew, which continued for fourteen years. He which very few men have been happy in possessing. He was a thorough agriculturalist, a natural mechanician, an able financier, and one of the most distinguished. jurists who ever graced the bench. The late President Lincoln, during a period of twenty years, practised under him while he was a Judge of the Supreme Court. His constant re- search and study, aided by a talent peculiarly framed for

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.

The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 29

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