The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 32

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

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ever held private interests subservient to the public and general good. He was married August 24th, 1854, to Miss Hutchins, formerly a resident of the State of Indiana.

HOMPSON, COLONEL RICHARD S., Lawyer, was born at Cape May Court House, Cape May county, New Jersey, December 27th, 1837. His father, Richard Thompson, was a prominent citi- zen of Southern New Jersey, an extensive land- owner, and largely interested in vessels engaged in the coast trade. When fourteen years old he entered the Norristown Seminary, at Norristown, Pennsylvania, where he remained three years, and then was placed under the private tuition of Rev. A. Scovel, a Presbyterian clergyman of Bordentown, New Jersey, continning under his charge for four years, and receiving in this time a comprehensive and thorough education. Upon the expiration of this pupilage, he commenced to read law, at the time continu- ing his literary studies under the direction of Asa I. Fish, LL. D., of the Philadelphia bar, widely and popularly known as the editor of the "American Law Register," " Sel- wyn's Nisi Prius," " Todd's Practice," " Williams on Ex- ecutors," and of the newest and best publication of " Troubar and IIaley's Practice," the only complete digest of English exchequer reports. These are all works of established and well-deserved reputation. Under the supervision of this scholarly and profoundly learned barrister he remained for two years preparation for practice, and then passed to the Danc Law School of Harvard College, from which he graduated with distinction in 1861. Returning to Philadel- phia, he spent another year in the office of his preceptor, Mr. Fish, and in 1862 was admitted to the bar, having passed a very creditable examination by the Board of Ex- aminers, then presided over by Hon. Eli K. Price. After his admission he made an extensive tour of the country, and inspired with martial ardor by the opening of the civil war, returned to his native State and raised a company of soldiers, who were attached to the 12th New Jersey Volun- teers, becoming Captain of Company K, which he had rc- cruited. While at Ellicott's Mills he was appointed Assist- ant Provost Marshal under General Wool, with head-quar- ters at the Mills until his regiment was ordered to the front. It was subsequently first attached to the 2d Brigade, 3d Di- vision, 2d Army Corps, then to the 3d Brigade and 2d Divi- sion of the same corps, and at the close of the war formed part of a Provisional Corps. During thesc changes, however, it served with the Army of the Potomac. Colonel Thompson participated in all of the hard-fought battles save for a short time when absent on detached duty. At Chancellorsville, when the Union line was hard pressed, several regiments having given way, and his own commander, Colonel Wil- letts, having been wounded, he took command of the com- panies which remained and succeeded in stemming the on-

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slaught until the broken linc had fallen back and reformed. | knowledge of parliamentary law, his constant advocacy of For this gallant service, which saved the line at a moment of greatest peril, he was highly complimented. At Gettys- burg his regiment was on the right centre, and successfully opposed Pettigrew's North Carolina Brigade, which formed the left of Longstreet's charging column. He participated in the hot engagements at Falling Waters, Auburn Mills, Bristow's Station, Blackburn's Ford, Robcson's Farm, and at Mine Run, where the fighting lasted three days. In that series of terrible engagements which marked the progress of Grant's army towards Richmond, Colonel Thompson's regiment was conspicuous for its gallantry. At Deep Bottom he acted as corps officer of the day, and it became his duty to hold the lines until the main body of troops under Gen- eral Hancock, who was making a demonstration on the north side of the James river, had recrossed. This was an impor- tant and dangerous position, as this line was more than four miles in length and in some places scarcely fifty feet from the enemy's pickets. He, however, succeeded with slight loss, and received from Hancock himself a personal com- pliment for this service. In a successful charge by his regiment and others, in the autumn of 1864, to dislodge the enemy from a strong position at Ream's Station, he was se- verely wounded by the explosion of a shell. Soon after he was taken to Philadelphia, where he remained until Decem- ber, and while still on crutches was assigned to duty as President of a General Court Martial sitting in that city. In this capacity he continued to act until February, 1865, when, ascertaining from his physician that his wounds would incapacitate him for active service for a long time, he resigned his commission. The character of the service he saw may be estimated when it is known that his regiment was mustered in with 992 men, and was mustered out with only 93, and all of these bearing honorable wounds. Colonel, afterward Brigadier-General, Thomas A. Smith, command- ing the brigade, wrote Governor Parker, under datc of March 2d, 1864, as follows: " The majority of the 12th New Jersey is now vacant. I take pleasure to recommend to your notice Captain Richard S. Thompson. Ile is a gallant officer and a good disciplinarian. As an executive officer he has few equals. His assiduous attention to his duties has upon several occasions won the highest enco- miums of his superior officers." On January 14th, 1865, General Hancock asked to have him commissioned as Colonel in a Veteran Reserve Corps, for his valor at Deep Bottom and Ream's Station, and President Lincoln indorsed the recommendation. Colonel Thompson removed to Chi- cago October 24th, 1865, and entcred upon the practice of law. In 1867 he became a member of the firm of Leam- ing & Thompson, which still exists. In 1869 he was chosen a member of the Board of Trustees of Hyde Park, and soon after was elected its attorney. In 1872 he was nominated on the Republican ticket as candidate for State Senator from the Second Illinois District, and was returned by a handsome majority. His ability as a legislator, his keen

all measures for the public weal, his official integrity, have achieved for him a reputation second only to that which he won upon the battle-field. He is the leading member of the Senate, a position which he has secured by a fearless pcr- formance of all the duties rightly devolving upon him as a representative of the people. He distinguished himself in the session of 1875, during the agitation over the repeal of the Liquor Law, by holding at bay temporary majorities until a full house was present to decide the issue, and again in the debate upon the contested election of Senator Mar- shal. He was married June 7th, 1865, to Catharine S. Scovel, daughter of Rev. A. Scovel, at that time a resident of Bloomington, Illinois.

AMPTON, BENJAMIN R., Lawyer and Journal- ist, was born in Warren county, Ohio, in 1821. His parents were Van Culen Hampton and Eliz- abeth (Randolph) Hampton. His father was a former resident of New Jersey, his mother was from Ohio. His earlier education was acquired in the common schools of his native place. During his boy- hood he was employed for some time in a woollen factory. In 1840 he left his native State, and emigrating to Illinois, established himself in Macomb, McDonough county. Sub- sequently he there entered the law office of Cyrus Walker, who was noted as one of the most brilliant and able practi- tioners in the Northwest, and under his supervision pursued a course of legal studies. Passing the required examination he was admitted to the bar in 1843, entering into partner- ship with Pinkney H. Walker, late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of this State, and still a member of that body. From this date until 1860 he was constantly and actively occupied in the practice of his profession. In the mean time he became the proprietor of the Macomb Jour- nal, then known as the Macomb Enterprise, and took an active part in the campaign of 1856, being a warm supporter of Jolin C. Fremont for President. His interest in that organ, however, he disposed of in 1860, and then engaged in farming and agricultural pursuits, which occupied his time exclusively up to 1865, when he again became owner of the Macomb Enterprise, now known as the Macomb Journal, and down to the present time has continued in connection with W. H. Hainline, with whom he associated himself in 1870 as joint proprietor. In 1870 he was elected to the Legislature of Illinois as Senator on the Republican ticket, and in 1872 was re-elected to that office. In 1870 his senatorial district comprised the counties of McDonough, Warren, Mercer, and Henderson. In the election of 1872, however, the State having been redistricted, his district be- came limited to McDonough and Warren counties only. In all matters pertaining to the social and political status and welfare of his adopted State and county, he is an active and effective agent, and in the halls of the Legislature has

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constantly and ably forwarded the aims and interests of his [ in a manner that would fully realize the design of its foun- constituents. During his first term in the Senate he was Chairman of the committee which prepared the present temperance law of the State, and in the second term was the author of the law giving the people a cheap edition of the revised statutes of the State. He was married in 1845 to Angeline E. Hail, formerly a resident of Kentucky.

AILEY, REV. JOHN W., D. D., was born March 26th, 1822, in Marlboro', Ulster county, New York. On his father's side he was of French Huguenot descent, the family having been among the early settlers in New Rochelle, near New York city. Ilis mother was of Puritan origin, descended from Rev. Thomas Hooker, D. D. The pious instructions of his mother revealed themselves in his char- acter from childhood, and when fourteen years of age he became a member of the Brainard Presbyterian Church in the city of New York. IIe had received a thorough Eng- lish education when, at eighteen years of age, he commenced the study of law in New York. After two years of law studies he decided to prepare himself for the gospel minis- try, and placed himself under the instruction of Rev. John J. Owen, D. D., in order to prepare for college. A year of diligent study under this eminent classical scholar was fol- lowed by an illness that caused the loss of a year from his studies. In 1842 he entered Phillip's Academy at Andover, Massachusetts, and there received the careful training in Latin and Greek for which that institution has so long been eminent. In 1845 he entered Williams College, graduating in 1849. He then returned to the city of New York, and spent the next three years in theological studies in Union Theological Seminary. March 10th, 1851, he married Calphurnia S. White, of Mount Holly, Vermont. In 1852, as soon as his theological studies had been completed, he was called to become Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Galesburg, Illinois. In 1857 he was appointed Professor of Moral Science in Knox College, having heard the classes in that department during the preceding two years, in addition to his ministerial labors. At the request of the trustees of the college he published in 1860 a pam- phlet entitled " Knox College-by whom founded and en- dowed." During the year 1863, after the death of Presi- dent Harvey Curtis, D. D., the office of President was filled by Professor Bailey. He became Pastor of the Second Presbyterian Church of Bloomington, Illinois, in the spring of 1864, where he remained three years. In 1867 he was appointed by the trustees of " Blackburn Seminary " to ar- range courses of study for a Preparatory Department, a Col- lege, and a Theological Seminary. The institution had been founded by Rev. Gideon Blackburn, D. D., in Car- linville, Illinois. An academy was in successful operation . when Professor Bailey was called to organize the institution

der. His plans were accepted by the board, and he was called to the first professorship in the institution he had or- ganized, as " Professor of Theology." The next year he secured the erection of a large building, and obtained. from the Legislature a change of the name of the institution to that of " Blackburn University." His Alma Mater, Wil- liams College, in 1869 bestowed upon him the honorary de- gree of D. D. In 1871 he was made President of Black- burn University, and under his control that institution has had a career of prosperity rarely equalled. His duties as professor and president have required of him the instruction of classes in mental and moral science, in ancient and modern philosophy, in systematic theology, in the history of doctrines, in Church history, in the critical exegesis of the Greek Testament and of the Hebrew Bible, and in general and biblical history.

ALLER, FRANCIS B., M. D., was born in Lewis- town, Pennsylvania, October 13th, 1836. Ilis paternal ancestors were German Quakers, his maternal ancestors Scotch-Irish. His parents are Samuel Haller and Mary Haller, both natives of Pennsylvania. His academical education was obtained at the Lewistown Academy, Pennsylvania, whence he entered the Hillsboro' Academy, Illinois, completing in the latter institution the course of studies begun in the for- mer. Upon attaining his majority he commenced the study of medicine at Hillsboro', Illinois, primarily with Dr. A. S. Haskell, and subsequently with the late Professor William H. Herrick of Chicago. He attended two full courses of lectures at the Rush Medical College, Chicago, during the winter of 1848-49 and that of 1849-50, and in the following winter of 1850-51 attended the full course of lectures in the Medical Department of the Missouri University, graduating from that institution in 1851. IIe then engaged in the ac- tive practice of his profession at Vandalia, Illinois, and there, with the exception of the winter of 1864-65, has since permanently resided. The winter referred to was passed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he temporarily remained in order to attend a course of lectures at the Jef- ferson Medical College, from which he graduated also in 1865. He has always enjoyed a large and lucrative prac- tice, and in his position as leading surgeon of Vandalia and the surrounding country, has been called upon to attend a great number of surgical cases requiring delicate and skilful treatment, and has been remarkably successful in his treat- ment of cases of a most dangerous type. He is a prominent and valued member of all the leading medical associations, and officiated formerly as President of the Illinois State Medical Association. He was appointed Examining Sur- geon by the Governor of the State, and has served in that capacity with irreproachable fidelity and ability. At the

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present time he is Examining Surgeon for United States pensioners. Formerly an old-line Whig, upon the dissolu- tion of his party he became a Republican, and ever since the organization of that party has contributed his influence to its welfare and support, and has been the President of several associations established to strengthen and perpetuate its power. He has never sought the offices which he has filled at various times, and does not care to embroil himself in the turmoil and ceaseless disputations environing a poli- tician's existence. He has been prominently identified with everything tending to benefit his town; is a Director of the First National Bank of Vandalia; and a Director of the Broad Plank Railway Company. He is an influential and zealous member of the Masonic fraternity, and for nine years has held the office of Worthy Master. In every sense of the word, he is a Christian gentleman, and widely honored both as man and scholar. He was married in 1856 to Lou R. Higgins, of Cass county, Illinois.

HAFFER, HON. JOHN WILSON, Governor of the Territory of Utah, was born in Union county, Pennsylvania, July 5th, 1827. Believing that in the West was to be found a wider field for his energies, he left his native State about 1846, and connected himself with one of the first parties that crossed the plains, and travelled toward the Pacific coast. He remained in California during the en- suing two years, and while there was engaged chiefly in mining and mercantile operations. At the end of that time he removed to Freeport, Illinois, where he remained busied in business relations of various kinds until the breaking out of the Southern Rebellion in 1861. He then entered the service of the United States, serving primarily upon the staff of General John Pope in Missouri. He was afterward sent to serve with General Hunter, then occupied in the South, and finally became Chief Quartermaster of the De- partment of the Gulf under General Butler. When the latter officer wis relieved he followed him into retirement, still holding his commission. When General Butler was reinstated, and again placed in command in the Departments of Virginia and North Carolina, he joined him and was made Chief of Staff. This position he held, and filled with marked and brilliant ability, until enfecbled by continued ill-health, superinduced by over work and much exposure, he was compelled to resign. He then again returned to Freeport, and remained at his home until President Grant, who knew him well as a gallant soldier and efficient administrator, sent for him, and requested him to accept the Governorship of Utah, a post of responsibility, even of peril, and one whosc attendant onerous duties he performed with fidelity and inflexible loyalty. Grant needed one upon whom he could thoroughly and fearlessly rely, and made a most ju- dicious selection, his only error being in overestimating the

physical endurance of the candidate. His entire fitness for the place was palpably shown in the character of the meas- ures which he was upon the point of making public, when his health became so delicate as to prohibit him peremptorily from accomplishing or undertaking further work. Few men of his age ever held so high a place in the love, admiration and respect of so extensive and varied a circle of friends and acquaintances. Decided in his political views, and boldly outspoken. in his utterances, he yet possessed the respect and confidence of his most violent opponents, and the secret esteem of his bitterest foes. No one has cver said of him justly that he was unfair to an adversary, or lacking in forbearance and generosity; and upon several occasions he resisted the most urgent entreaties of the people of the Congressional district in which he resided to become their representative in Congress. " This importunity last year, when the Hon. E. B. Washburne accepted the mission to France, was almost beyond parallel." He declincd absolutely that nomination, asking his friends to confer the honor upon the gentleman who now represents the district. To this request, when it was found that his resolve was not to be shaken, and that he earnestly desired its granting, was given a prompt and cordial acquiescence. This action of his friends in supporting the neighbor of his choice he has mentioned with justifiable pride, considering it as a compliment second only to the tender of the position to himself. His charities " werc never restrained to anything like the ordinary proportion to men's mcans. He gave more and more openly and kindly than almost any other man of like ability, and his kindness of heart and lack of caution more than once brought him to the verge of financial ruin." Throughout his administrative career as Governor of Utah he deported himself with firmness, tact and intrepid resolve ; and by his unremitting attention to the interests of the United States Government, and his repression of all that tended to subvert order or redound to the injury of his loyal and law-abiding fellow-citizens, won a reputation that carried his name from the Atlantic to the Pacific slope, and wherever the name of the Union, one and indivisible, is spoken with love and veneration. He was married in 1848 to Mary Jane Strawbridge, of Galena, Illinois, a woman of true Christian character and lovable virtues. He dicd at Salt Lake City, Utah, of consumption, on the last day of October, IS70, in his forty-third year.

OOD, JOHN, ex-Governor of Illinois and the "first settler" of Quincy, was born in the town of Sempronius (now Moravia), Cayuga county, New York, on December 20th, 1798. He was the second child and only son of Dr. Daniel Wood. His mother, Catherine Crause, was of German parentage, and died while he was an infant. Dr. Wood was a learned and skilful physician, of classical at-

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tainments and proficient in several modern languages, who | in the more than half century recollections of Governor after serving throughout the Revolutionary war as a surgeon, Wood. Fifty-four years ago a solitary settler, having no neighbor within a score of miles, the world of civilization away behind him, and the strolling Indian almost his only visitant, he has lived to see growing around him, and under his auspices and aid, overspreading the varnished wild grass and forest a teeming city, second in size to but one in the State, and surpassed nowhere in beauty, prosperity and promise ; whose people recognize as with a single voice the proverbial honor and liberality that attach to the name and lengthened life of their pioneer settler, " the old Governor." settled on the land granted him by the government, and resided there a respected and leading influence in his section until his death at the ripe age of ninety-two years. John Wood, impelled by the then pervading spirit of western adventure, left his home on November 2d, ISIS, and passed the suc ceeding winter in Cincinnati, Ohio. The following sum- mer he pushed on to Illinois, landing at Shauneetown, and spent the fall and following winter in Calhoun county. In IS20, in company with Williard Keycs, he settled in Pike county, about thirty miles southeast of Quincy, and "farmed it " there for the next two years. In 1821 he visited " the Bluffs "-as the present site of Quincy was called, then un- inhabited-and, pleased with its prospects, soon after pur- ACKSON, GILES W., Superintendent of the Poor, was born in Manlius, Onondaga county, New York, May 23d, 1813. His father, James Jack- son, was somewhat crippled in early life, and being unable to perform severe labor and having a good deal of energy, educated himself and be- came a physician. The education of Giles W. began at the district school, and was afterward pursued at the Polytechnic School in Chittenango, New York. He was up to that time partially engaged on his father's farm. He then be- came clerk in a country store till twenty-three years old. In 1836 he went to La Salle county, Illinois, bought a farm and helped to lay out a town, which was named after his native placc, Manlius. He was married January 10th, 1837, to Hannah Jennings. He continued farming until 1853, when he sold out, moved to Ottawa, Illinois, and en- gaged in the hardware business, as member of the firm of Jackson & Lockwood, in which he remained for twenty years ; then sold out his interest, and has not since been en- gagcd in active business. He is and has been for twenty- five years Superintendent of the Asylum for the Poor at Ottawa. He was, during his residence at Manlius, Super- visor and Treasurer of the school fund ; has been an Alder- man of Ottawa; is Vice-President of the La Salle County Savings, Loan & Trust Company ; is a strong temperance man, useful in the church, and highly esteemed for his integrity. chased a quarter section of land near by, and in the follow- ing fall (1822) erected near the river a small cabin, eighteen by twenty feet, the first building in Quincy, of which he then became the first and for some months the only occupant. In 1824 he gave a newspaper notice, as the law then pre- scribed, of his intention to apply to the General Assembly for the formation of a new county. This was done the following winter, resulting in the establishment of the present Adams county. During the next summer Quincy was selected as the county seat, it and the vicinity then containing but four (4) adult male residents and half that number of females. Since that period Mr. Wood has con- tinuously resided in the home of his early adoption, where he has been necessarily and prominently identified with every measure of its progress and history, and almost con- tinuously kept in public positions. He was one of the early Town Trustees, and before the place became a city; has been often a member of the City Council; many times elected Mayor, in the face of a constant large opposition political majority ; in 1850 was elected to the State Senate; in 1856, on the organization of the Republican party, was chosen Lieutenant-Governor, and on the death of Governor Bissell in 1859 succeeded to the chief executive chair ; was one of the five delegates from Illinois in 1861 to the " Peace Convention," and in April of the same year, on the break- ing out of the Rebellion, was appointed Quartermaster- General of the State, which position he held throughout the war. In 1864 he took command as Colonel of the 137th Regiment of Illinois Infantry, with whom he served until the period of enlistment expired. Governor Wood has been twice married; first in January, 1826, to Ann M. Streeter, daughter of Joshua Streeter, formerly of Salem, Washington county, New York ; they had eight children, four of whom are now living. Mrs. Wood died on October Sth. 1863, and in June, 1865, Governor Wood married Mary A. Holmes, widow of the Rev. Joseph T. Holmes. Politically Governor Wood has been always actively identified with the Whig, and since its disbandment with the Republican, party. Few men have in personal experience comprehended so many surprising and advancing local changes as vested

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 32

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