The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 30

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

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BIOGRAPHIICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

then practised alone until 1873, when he became associated | Bridge Company of Seneca. He has a family of nine with Owen G. Lovejoy, oklest son of Rev. Owen Lovejoy children, including seven sons, two of whom served through the last war with credit. He is a man greatly re- spected throughout his county. of Princeton. At one time Mr. Kendall was a director of the public schools. He is President of the Town Council of Princeton, and Attorney for the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, having acted in the last-named capacity for twenty years. He is a man of fine legal abil- ities, and is highly respected by his fellow-citizens.

RMSTRONG, HON. GEORGE WASHING- TON, Farmer and Legislator, was born in Lick- ing county, Ohio, December 11th, IS13. ITis father, Joseph Armstrong, was a man of business ability, being engaged in wagon-building, store- keeping, the manufacture of woollens, and farm- ing. His mother's maiden name was Elsie Strawn, sister of the well-known "cattle king," Jacob Strawn. The family was a large one, containing six sons, who grew to manhood ; and of the six, three-Perry, John, and George Washington-have represented districts in the Illinois Legislature. This son was put at work in the woollen fac- tory as soon as he could hold a bobbin, and never attended school anywhere for a single term ; his education being entirely such as he has been able to pick up in the spare moments of a busy, hard-working life. In IS31, being then in his eighteenth year, he went, with part of the family and his uncle Jacob, into the wilderness of La Salle county, Illinois, to what is now South Ottawa, and opened a new farm, to which the rest of the family afterward fol- lowed them. In 1833, when the Black Hawk war broke out, he joined the troops and did garrison duty at Ottawa. Ile was married, March 10th, IS35, to Annie Green. of Morgan county, and moved to the township of Brookfield, La Salle county, and opened a new farm and put up the first building in the town. It was just at this time, when he had no roof to cover him. and was sleeping with his laborers under the trees, that the famous meteoric display of November 13th, IS33, occurred, and he witnessed its full beauty and grandeur. In IS37 he built a saw-mill near Morris, in Grundy county. He then went farther down on the line of the Illinois & Michigan Canal, and worked four years upon it, breaking the first soil and put- ting up the first shanty on the ground where Utica now stands. He then sokl out and returned to his farm. In IS44 he was elected to the Legislature. In IS47 was a Delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and in IS48 was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress, as he was again in LLEN. EDWIN CUTLER, Banker, was born in Rochester, New York, November 21st, IS20. His father, Asa K. Allen, was an architect and builder. Edwin Cutler attended the city schools until fifteen years old, when the family moved to Ypsilanti, Michigan, when he entered the drug IS58. In 1870 he was elected a member of the Legisla- ture. and was afterward twice re-elected. He has been for twenty years on the County Board of Supervisors, and for fourteen years Chairman of the Board ; also Supervisor of Brookfield, and School Trustee ; for eleven years President of the Morris Bridge Company, and is now President of the | store of a brother who was a physician. After remaining

ALKER, GEORGE ELMORE, Surveyor and Capitalist, was born near Nashville, Tennessee, November 9th, 1803, his father being David Walker, a physician. He had very slight educa- tional advantages. In 18:2 the family moved to St. Clair county, Illinois, and when but ten years old he began to drive a stage which passed through that county, continuing at it for a while. He afterward studied surveying, and became Deputy United States Sur- veyor, following this vocation through Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, and Alabama. In company with ex-Governor Reynolds, he constructed the first railroad ever built in Illinois, which had wooden rails, running back a few miles from East St. Louis. About 1836 he speculated in real estate in Chicago, but soon after his connection with the railroad rendered him insolvent, and he deeded away his lands and returned to Ottawa, Illinois, whither his parents had removed in 1825, and where he also had at times tem- porarily resided. In 1836 he was married to Margaret Thomas. He then entered into a general mercantile busi- ness at Ottawa, having part of the time in partnership William Hickling, Esq., and conducting business very suc- cessfully until 1855, when he retired from mercantile life. He had previously invested his spare means in Chicago. Ile then sold out there, and in 1860 started a fine large fruit farm in Cobden, Union county, Illinois, with great success. In 1869 he removed to Chicago, where he re- mained managing his own private property until his death, which occurred November 14th, 1874. He was engaged in the Black Hawk war, acted as Government interpreter, speaking seven different Indian dialects, and being a man of rare discretion and shrewdness. He was the first Sheriff ever elected in La Salle county, was once Mayor of Ottawa, and died at the ripe age of seventy-one, leaving a large for- tunc, including the Oriental Block in Chicago, which he had constructed. But two of his large family of children remain to mourn his loss-Mr. A. Evans Walker and Mrs. M. A. Coleman. His memory is cherished in both of the cities where he so long resided.

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there for a time he entered the Bank of Ypsilanti as Teller, in 1837. The bank was closed in 1839, and he went to Chicago to assist the Receiver in winding up the affairs of the bank. In 1840 he returned to Ypsilanti and became Book-keeper and Cashier of the large milling and mer- chandise house of Norris & Follett of that city. In 1845 he was married to Mary C. Champion, daughter of Salmon Champion, a prominent business man and an old settler of Ypsilanti. In 1848 he moved to Allen's Grove, Wiscon- sin, and engaged in mercantile life for four years. From thence he moved to Peru, Illinoi. where he was Cashier of the Illinois River Bank, and was afterward the first Cashier of the Bank of Peru, holding this office until 1856. Hle then removed to Ottawa, Illinois, and became a partner in the organization of the banking house of Eames, Allen & Co., of Ottawa, which was afterward organized under the State law as the City Bank of Eames, Allen & Co., and again reorganized under the national banking system as the National City Bank of Ottawa, during all which time until the present he has been connected with it. This is one of the oldest banks in the county and in the State. From 1868 to IS71 he was a member of the extensive grocery house of Day, Allen & Co., of Chicago, and during this time resided there. Ile then returned to Ottawa, and re- suming active connection with the bank, was chosen its Vice-President, which position he still holds. Ile was, previous to his residence in Chicago, Treasurer of the city of Ottawa, and upon his return was re-elected, and still continues to act as such. He is also one of the Directors and Secretary and Treasurer of the Illinois River Bridge Company, of Ottawa. He was one of the original Direc- tors and the first Treasurer of the Ottawa Hotel Company, which built the Clifton Hotel, one of the best houses in the Northwest; and in the city where he has for so many years resided bears a high reputation for integrity, as indicated by the positions he has filled.

AILEY, HON. JOSEPHI MEAD, A. M., Lawyer, was born in Middlebury, Wyoming county, New York, June 22d, 1833. His parents are Aaron Bailey, formerly engaged in farming and agricul- tural pursuits, and Maria (Brannan) Bailey. On the maternal side he is a direct descendant of the " Mayflower " Pilgrims, and on both sides of the house is of New England extraction. His earlier and preliminary e:lucation was acquired at the Middlebury Academy, from which he was transferred, in 1851, to the University of Rochester, New York. There he completed a course of study in the higher branches of learning, and graduating, took successively, in 1854 and 1857, the degrees of B. A. and A. M. Deciding to embrace the legal profession, he commenced the study of law under the supervision and able guidance of E. A. Hopkins, of Rochester, and, upon

[ the termination of his allotted course of probation with that preceptor, was admitted to the bar in November, 1855. Believing that in the West was to be found a wider and less encumbered field for the profitable exercise of skill and energy, he removed to Illinois, and settled at Freeport in 1856. There he entered immediately upon the active practice of his profession, and rapidly secured an extensive and remunerative clientage, which has been constantly in- creasing both in proportions and character down to the present time. From 1866 to 1869 he was a member of the Illinois Legislature, and, while acting in that capacity, evinced the possession of talents and acquirements of no mean order .. He is attorney for the American Insurance Company of Chicago, and also for the Illinois Central Railroad Company. To a profound knowledge of the legal science, he joins the general culture derived from a varied and extended course of reading. Skilful in the presentation of the most involved or the barest facts, forcible in his man- ner of dealing with difficult and entangling subjects, accur- ate in his perceptions of the true bearings of a case, he takes an enviable position among the more prominent prac- titioners of the bar of Freeport, and is a valued and in- fluential member of the legal fraternity, and also of the large community amid which he is honored as an upright and an useful citizen. He was married, in 1859, to Anna Olin, a former resident of Perry Centre, Wyoming county, New York.

ARD, CHESTER, M. D., Physician and Surgeon, was born in Mount Morris, Livingston county, New York, February Sth, 1827. His father, Peter Nichols Hard, a man of culture and liberal education, was for many years a teacher, and afterward devoted his attention to farming, which occupation he intended to have his sons follow : but out of the five boys four became physicians. Chester received most of his education in Michigan and in Illinois, having removed at an early age to the former State, and in 1844 to St. Charles, Illinois, where he commenced the study of medicine under the instruction of his brother, Professor Nichols Hard, M. D. The next year he moved with his brother to Aurora, Illinois, and continued his medical studies, and at the same time attended a classical school to complete his study of the languages. In 1847 and '48 he completed his medical studies by attending two courses of lectures in the Indiana Medical College, and received his degree of Doctor in Medicine from that institution ; imme- diately after which he entered upon the practice of medicine in Aurora, in company with his brother, the Professor, con- tinuing there for two years. In IS50 he was married in Aurora to Amanda S. King of that place, and removed to Ottawa, Illinois, where he opened the practice of medicine, in which he has been actively engaged ever since. And during this time many young physicians, now settled in the

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surrounding country, received uneir instruction in his office. In 1852 he received an ad eundem degree from the Medical Department of the University of Missouri. He became a member of the American Medical Association in 1858, and in 1862 was appointed one of the examining surgeons of the United States Pension Department, and still acts in that capacity. He is also one of the trustees of the Ottawa Academy of Science, and has been President of the City Board of Education and Chairman of the Republican Con- gressional Committee for his district. In March last with his wife he celebrated a joyous silver wedding, surrounded by many of the friends of their youth and early struggles in life. The doctor is a man useful also in the church, Super- intendent of the Sunday-school, and esteemed throughout the city.

YER, REUBEN FREDSON, M. D., Physician and Surgeon, was born in Strong, Franklin county, Maine, January 29th, 1833. His father, Moses Dyer, was a farmer. Ile attended first the common district school, and then fitted for college at an academy in Farmington, Maine. He did not, however, enter college, but at the age of eighteen went into the office of a physician in Farmington and began the study of medicine, remaining with him thrce years. In 1853 he went to Cincinnati and entered the American Medical College, where he took two full courses and graduated in 1855. He then went to Newark, Ken- dall county, Illinois, where he opened an office and prac- tised till 1861. He was married July 29th, 1857, in Acton, Massachusetts, to Susanna A. Goodrich. In 1861 he en- tered the army as Captain of Company K, 20th Illinois, and served a year, and then entered the 104th Illinois as Surgeon, and served through the entire war in the various duties of brigade, division and corps surgeon, organizing several hospitals, having charge of them, and was with Sherman on his March to the Sea. At the close of the war he moved to Ottawa, Illinois, and opened a medical practice, in which he has been engaged ever since. He was chief magistrate of Newark for one term; has been Examining Surgeon for various insurance companies ; mem- ber of the Board of Education of Ottawa; Coroner of La Salle county for one term ; and a contributor to the medical journals of the day.

ANBORN, DAVID, President of the Second Na- tional Bank of Galesburg, Illinois, was born in Windham county, Vermont, in 1813. His cle- mentary education was acquired in his native State, whence he subsequently removed to Phila- delphia, where he remained for a brief period. In 1837 he came to Illinois, and was engaged in farming and agricultural pursuits until I$51. At that date he moved

to Galesburg, and there until 1857 was engrossed in mer- cantile business. He then became General Agent for Il- linois for the Hartford Insurance Company, and was thus employed for about four years. In 1862 he was made As- sistant Assessor of Internal Revenue for the Fifth District. During 1850, 1851, 1852 and 1853 he represented Peoria county in the Legislature, and while performing the func- tions of that office evinced the possession of sterling quali- ties. Upon the organization in May, 1864, of the Second National Bank of Galesburg, he was appointed its President, and has since held that responsible position in this thriving and prosperous institution. He is one of the trustees of the Lombard University of Galesburg, and acts also as the Treasurer of that establishment. Entirely a self-made man, hc has, by the exercise of a high order of ability, won the confidence and esteem of a large section of the northwest. He was married in 1840 to Sophia Ramsey, a former resi- dent of Vermont.

ROWNING, HON. ORVILLE H., Ex-Secretary of the Interior, United States, was born February Ioth, 1806, in Harrison county, Kentucky, his parents being Micajah and Sallie (Brown) Browning, both of whom were natives of Vir- ginia. Leaving home when nineteen years of age, he went to Augusta, Bracken county, Kentucky, and as deputy entered the office of John Payne, then the clerk of the circuit and county courts. For four years he served in this capacity, and during this period gave satisfactory evidence of that executive capacity which in later years was to be tested in higher and more responsible stations. He attended college in Augusta during the latter half of his term as deputy, and by faithful application obtained a com- prehensive and practical education, which was constantly improved in after years by reading and meditation. Leav- ing Augusta upon the expiration of his service as court officer, he went to Cynthiana, Kentucky, and commenced to read law with Colonel W. Erown. In February, 1831, he was licensed to practice, and in the following March he removed to Quincy, Illinois, where he entered upon the practice of his chosen profession. The care he displaycd in the preparation of his cases and his fidelity to his clients, combined with his finc qualifications as an advocate at the bar, soon secured to him not only a very large and remu- nerative patronage but a wide reputation as an active and thoroughly read lawyer. In 1836 he was elected to repre- sent Adams county, Illinois, in the State Senate, and served in this capacity four years. He took a deep interest in all the legislation during that period, and distinguished hin- self by his efforts to stem the tide of special enactments which were constantly proposed for the benefit of corpora- tions. Ile cloquently and persistently combated the bill establishing a " State Internal Improvement System," which was eventually adopted, and, as time has shown, to the pre-

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judice of some of the most important interests in the Com- [ deepest attention. Ilis draft of the new platform was ac- monwealth. In the session of December, 1836, he intro- cepted, and upon this declaration of principles by the new party Bissell and Wood were triumphantly elected as Gov- ernor and Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois. This victory was the initiative of the great series of State and national successes of the Republican organization which followed. Mr. Browning is now engaged in a very large civil practice, and lives in the enjoyment of a happy home circle, sharing with its members the popular esteem for himself which is the reward of his great public services. In February, 1836, he was married to Eliza Caldwell, daughter of Major Robert Caldwell, of Richmond, Kentucky. duced the bills which authorized the removal of the State Capital from Vandalia to Springfield, and the founding of a Deaf and Dumb Asylum at Jacksonville. Upon the expi- ration of his term he declined a re-election, which was urged by his constituents. Subsequently, however, he consented to run as a candidate for the lower House of the Legisla- ture, was elected, and served two years. In 1843 he be- came the candidate of the Whig party for Congress, but was defeated by a small majority by his opponent, who was none other than the late Stephen A. Douglas. During these years of political agitation he continued his legal practice at Quincy, acquiring ample means and enlarging his repu- tation as a skilful barrister. Upon the death of Mr. Doug- las in 1861, Governor Yates appointed him to fill the vacant seat from Illinois in the United States Senate, and ITCHELL, JAMES, Banker, Real Estate Operator, etc., was born in Cumberland county, Pennsylva- nia, in ISI0. His parents were James A. Mitchell, a major in the war of 1812, and Mary (Scroggs) Mitchell. His earlier education was acquired in the neighboring common schools of his native place. Thence he removed in 1827 to the vicinity of the Galena Lead Mines, Illinois. He was an active and a prominent participant in the Black Hawk Indian War of 1832 and 1833, and throughout that conflict performed valiant and efficient service. In 1838 he returned to Rock- ford and was appointed Clerk of the Circuit Court of Winne- bago county. In 1842 he was appointed Canal Commis- sioner by Governor Ford, and served in this capacity during the ensuing two years. In 1846 hc was given the appoint- ment of Agent for Mineral Lands-lead mincs-for collect- ing ducs, selling land, etc. This position he held until its abolishment in 1848, conducting himself in the interim with rectitude and ability. He subsequently removed to Free- port, and there became engaged in the real estate business, in which he continued until 1852. In the course of the same year he established the Stephenson County Bank, and was actively and constantly engaged in connection with that institution until his demise in August, 1874. In all that concerned the status and welfare, social and political, of his adopted State and county he cver evinced a warm and generous interest, and was a valued and energetic co-worker in all movements and enterprises having for their end the increased well-being of the general community amid which he was an honored and beloved citizen. He was married in 1838 to Mary Thornton of Kentucky; again, in 1843, to Mrs. James W. Stephenson of Galena, Illinois; and again, subsequently, to Catharine Clark of Michigan, who survives him. The last-named lady is the daughter of Robert Clark, formerly for several years member of Congress for the Ter- ritory of Michigan, and sister of General John A. Clark, Surveyor-General of Utah and New Mexico, under the ad- he took his seat in that body in July, 1861, during a special session which had been called by the late President Lincoln. Upon the conclusion of this important representative service, he formed a law partnership with the Ilon. Thomas Ewing of Ohio, opening an office in Washington for the purpose of practising in the Supreme Court of the United States. This firm association was maintained until Mr. Browning was called by the late ex-President Johnson to his cabinet, as Secretary of the Department of the Interior, in 1866. President Lincoln had tendered him some years before the portfolio of this responsible station, but the offer was de- clined by him on account of the great pressure of his private business. In March, 1868, while Secretary of the Interior, he was appointed Attorney-General ad interim, when that office was resigned by Mr. Stansberry in order to participate in the defence of President Johnson, when impeached be- fore the Senate for violations of the Constitution. IIe ful- filled the dutics of these offices with great distinction until July 20th, 1868, when the IIon. William M. Evarts was appointed Attorney-General of the United States. At the close of President Johnson's administration he retired from the cabinet, returned to Quincy, Illinois, and resumed his legal practice at that place, which he has continued ever since. He was very prominent in the political changes which ensued upon the passage of the " Nebraska Bill," and the disruption of the old Whig party, and was a leading member of the convention which was called in Illinois for the organization of a new alliance which, discarding dead issues, could fairly combat those graver ones which the pe- culiar institutions of the South and the anti-slavery opinions of the North had developed. This convention was held at Bloomington, and consisted mainly of dissatisfied Whigs and abolitionists. It was a work of immense labor and great difficulty to harmonize the conflicting elements repre- sented in this body, and to prepare a platform upon which all could unite. In this important task Mr. Browning was conspicuous, his arguments and suggestions receiving the | ministration of Abraham Lincoln.

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OVEJOY, OWEN, Minister and Congressman, was | occasion that was presented. With judgment and foresight born in the town of Albion, Kennebeck county, he adopted at that early day the principle which was sub- sequently a leading feature in the doctrines of the Liberty party, and to which he always adhered, to wit : that the Constitution of the United States was an anti-slavery docu- ment, made to preserve liberty, and not to destroy it; and furthermore, that all that was necessary to obliterate slavery was to elect officers who would faithfully, without fear or favor, execute that organic law in strict accord with its legitimate meaning and original intent. In 1844 he was the candidate of the Liberty party for representative to Congress from the district in which he resided, then em- bracing a large portion of northern Illinois. He spoke in all the principal cities and towns of that district, clearly brought the sentiments of the party before the people, removed the veil from the atrocities of the slave power and created a profound impression by his eloquence and logic wherever he spoke. To his active labors in this and sub- sequent campaigns Illinois is probably more indebted than to those of any other individual for the early promulgation of the principles of liberty upon which the Republican party was founded. In 1847 he was the Liberty party candidate for delegate to the State Constitutional Conven- tion, and came within twenty-six votes of being elected. In 1854 he was a candidate to the State Legislature, on what was then called the "Abolition " ticket, and, despite the formidable opposition brought against him, he was tri- umphantly elected. Once in his seat, he boldly advocated the principles of his party, declared himself an avowed abolitionist, and very materially helped on the good cause by his fearless eloquence and consistency to the doctrines he had espoused. In the election for United States Senator he voted persistently for Abraham Lincoln, whose defeat at this session only reserved him for a nobler position. His new duties, which were all in fulfilment of the purpose he originally set out with, compelled him to relinquish his pastorate of the Congregational church at Princeton, and his resignation was accepted with great reluctance, and only accepted because all believed that in a wider sphere his labors would be more effectual in carrying forward the great reform in which he was engaged. In parting with him his people made him a present of a splendid service of silver, on one of the pieces of which was engraved : " Presented to Owen Lovejoy, the early, steadfast and un- compromising champion of freedom, at the close of his labors for a period of seventeen years as pastor of the Con- gregational church at Princeton, Illinois, by his friends, as a token of their admiration of his talents and of their undiminished affection and esteem." Upon the opposite side was cut : " The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor ; he hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliver- ance to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable Maine, January 6th, 1811. His father, a clergy- man, owned a farm upon which he labored until his eighteenth year, attending the common dis- trict school for three months of each winter and for a portion of the summer time. He possessed at an early age a very rare development of muscular power and agility, and became exceedingly fond of athletic sports, particularly of wrestling, in which he greatly excelled and usually came off victor. When thrown, he never yielded the contest, but renewed his challenge until his opponent was at length overcome and vanquished. He also dis- covered in boyhood that remarkable strength of will and tenacity of purpose which characterized his entire career. When he attained his eighteenth year he decided upon procuring a liberal education ; and as his family were not in affluent circumstances he was obliged to rely mainly upon his own efforts, by teaching school and by laboring a portion of the time upon his father's farm, for the means to defray his expenses. He commenced his preparatory studies at an academy in a neighboring town, and in due time graduated at Bowdoin College. After earning as a teacher a sum sufficient to meet the cost of his college course, in the autumn of 1836 he emigrated to Alton, Illinois, where his brother, Elijah Parish Lovejoy, was publishing a religious newspaper. Here he spent a year in the study of theology, and was present at the time of his brother's assassination ly the mob, on November 7th, 1837. After aiding in the preparation of his brother's memoirs for the press, he removed to Princeton and was installed as pastor of the Congregational church in that place. It was, however, at Alton that he first came in contact with the slave power, with its vigorous grasp, its relentless cruelty and its insatiate demands. And it was there, while kneel- ing by the remains of his murdered brother, that he resolved to consecrate his life to the work of opposing the gigantic sin of human bondage. With this high resolve, with the blessing of his mother and her injunction never to falter in the cause he had espoused, he went forth to preach the great principles of liberty and natural equality to a people who were fast yielding their honor, self-respect and sacred institutions to the encroachments of the slave power; and for a quarter of a century he stood like a rock, breasting the tide of obloquy, slander and hatred which were heaped upon him without measure. With rare power of eloquence, with the most engaging manners and suavity of address, he might at any time have risen to the first rank of political leaders in Illinois ; but his purpose was higher in philanthropy, and none of the enticements held out to him allured him from his chosen path of duty and prin- ciple. With all the bitterness of animosity directed against him by his enemies, and without a bold support from his friends, he still never swerved from a consistent course, nor failed to attack the institution of slavery on every year of the Lord." In 1856, the anti-slavery element

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 30

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