The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 5

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

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tion, and held the position for fifteen years, when failing health, and what was then deemed overzealous resistance to slavery and sectarianism, compelled his resignation. He was deeply interested in educational problems, and as early as 1833 delivered in the State a series of lectures for the purpose of arousing popular sentiment in favor of a broad and permanent system of common schools; and while thus philanthropically engaged, during college vacations, on horseback and on foot, through that then sparsely settled commonwealth, on the vast timberless prairies, he con- cluded that they would remain undeveloped so long as the people were without the means of closing in their farms. This led him to the study of some device as a substitute for timber for fences. In his experiments in this public labor he exhausted his means and effects, and was repaid by the silly jeers of the incredulous. He tried various plants with little success for a long time, until he found the Osage orange; and this for a considerable period was always spoken of as " Professor Turner's Folly ; " but at length, by the force of successful experiments, incredulity was com- pclled to admit the great benefits of his discovery. He in- terested himself in the advancement of agriculture, and was one of the originators of the modern methods for planting corn by machinery, and for the extensive use of machinery in the general cultivation of the ground. He was restlessly active, contributing to the magazines and journals papers on " Microscopic Insects," " Fungoid Growths, and Diseases of Plants and Trees," on " The Preparation and Rotation of Crops," on " The Analysis of Soils," and on kindred sub- jects, filled with practical suggestions of incalculable value to his fellow-men. His political discussions have at all times attracted the attention and study of statesmen. Dan- iel Webster pronounced his essay on " Currency " one of

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

the ablest papers he had ever read on that subject. His | on a similar business in Chicago, to become his employé, " Mormonism in All Ages," published in this country, and reproduced in Europe, was one of the keenest expositions of the character of a community which has long defied civil and military power. His numerous lectures, speeches, essays and papers against all modes of slavery and sec- tarianism and party drill, whether in church or in state, and his persistent defence of the absolute freedom of the individual man as against all unjust corporate power, are equally pointed and characteristic. As a lecturer and cssayist he was voluminous, and widely varied in his pro- ductions ; and his discourses on " Practical Education," " The Three Races of Men," "The Ocean Currents and Open Sea at the Poles," " Mcteorology," " Practical Cul- ture," " Metaphysical Analysis,". " On Matter, Force, and Spirit," have been printed and distributed by the State Natural History, Horticultural and Agricultural and other Societies and periodicals. He was among the earliest ad- vocates of a United States Agricultural Bureau in Illinois ; and in 1851 produced a series of lectures and papers on the necessity for educating the working classes by means of schools and universities endowed by the State, which led to the endowment of our national system of industrial insti- tutions. He was a strong advocate of a State Normal School. Ile is a man of broad church views, and abhors close sec- tarianism. IIis life-long study has been that of ameliorat- ing the condition of the working classcs through the mc- dium of technical and variously graded industrial schools. His various labors have secured to his enjoyment a com- fortable fortune, and though he has retired from the more active duties of life, he exhibits the same deep interest in the questions which from early age employed his thoughts. Ile is regarded in most honorable esteem by his fellow- citizens ; and is solaced in his declining years by witnessing the fruits of those institutions which, in labor prompted by the true spirit of philanthropy, he aided in founding. For some years past he has almost wholly withdrawn from all private business and all public effort, to devote his time more exclusively to a renewed and thorough re- examination and review of the real ground-work and basis of those great religious, social, civil, philosophical and · educational questions which have so much engrossed the public mind and his own past life.

which he accepted, very much to the chagrin of Dr. Merchant, who was unwilling to part with so valuable an assistant. He remained in Chicago with Boyce for two years, and meanwhile made the acquaintance of George E. Peck, a merchant in one of the interior towns of Illinois, and subsequently in connection with that gentleman opened a store in Aurora, in 1841. It was at this time that his real battle of life commenced; for he had come to a new country an entire stranger, and with but little capital to commence business ; the region itself afforded but a slender prospect for doing business, and the town at that period possessed no railroad communication whatever with the outside world ; so it required all the firmness and decision of character with which he is so largely possessed to over- come the obstacles which daily presented themselves to his view. He remained in this business until 1852, during which time he had been associated with two partners, the latter being L. D. Brady. In 1846 he was commissioned Postmaster by President Polk, and held the office until the inauguration of General Taylor, when, owing to his political sentiments, he was removed; but, in 1853, was re-appointed by President Pierce. In 1860 he was elected a Representative to the State Legislature from Kane county, and served in that body until 1862, when he was chosen a Senator, and as such was in office for four years. IIe was one of the fourteen Senators who left the State, during the session in the spring of 1863, to prevent a quorum assembling when the pro-slavery members were using every effort to placc Illinois among the seceding States. He was a Democrat of the old school, before Democracy be- came synonymous with secessionism, and when the war broke out he became a Republican. He had been pre- viously honored, in 1857, at the time Aurora was incorpo- rated as a city, by the Democratic nomination for Mayor, but was defeated by B. F. Hall. From his first residence in Aurora, in 1841, he has held various town and city offices, being first Supervisor and subsequently a member of the Board of Trustees. After the city government was per- fected he has held prominent positions, as being a member of the Council, and for several consecutive years was an Alderman, during which period he acted as Mayor of the city for one term. He is one of the original stockholders and founders of the First National Bank of Aurora, and was for some time its Vice-President, being at present one of the Directors. In 1851, in connection with his partner, L. D. Brady, he erected the first grain warehouse in the city. About that time the construction of a railway from Aurora to connect with the Chicago and Northwestern Rail- road was mooted, and considerable difficulty was experienced respecting the location, etc. In the discussions which fol-

LLEN, EDWARD R., Merchant, was born, No- vember 7th, 1819, in Courtland county, New York, where also he was educated in the com- mon schools peculiar to those days. When fifteen ycars old he went to Lockport, in the same State, and entcred the drug store of Dr. George W. lowed, and the ultimate arrangements effected, he took an active part ; in fact, in all the many enterprises undertaken in that section since 1841 he has ever been a leading spirit,

Merchant as an apprentice. He remained there until 1839, when he received an offer from L. M. Boyce, a former clerk to his employer, and who was at that time carrying | and has expended much time and means for the purpose of

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

benefiting the condition of the community among whom he resides. Being the possessor of keen perceptive faculties, sober habits, unrivalled integrity and clear judgment, he has been enabled to fill the various positions to which he has been called with that degree of perfection which few attain. Ile is still regarded as a leading man in Aurora, though he has retired somewhat from active public service. He is yet, however, extensively engaged in the grain, coal and lumber business, through which he has amassed considerable means. HIe dissolved partnership with L. D. Brady in 1852; and was thereafter, and until 1867, associated with his brother, William B. Allen, in the concern. He has been thrice married; his first wife was Alice A., daughter of Wyatt Carr, of Aurora, to whom he was united in 1846. She was the mother of two children, the eldest of whom, Edward C. Allen, is in the employ of the Post-Office Department on the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railroad as Mail Agent. She died in 1850, and in 1852 he was married to Mary A., daughter of Luke Gates, who died in 1865, leav- ing four children. In 1868 he married Sarah, daughter of Thomas Stewart.

REENE, WILLIAM G., Agriculturist, Stock- dealer and Banker, was born, January 27th, IS12, in Overton, Tennessee, and is the fifth child of William and Elizabeth (Graham) Greene. His ancestors were of English descent. IIis grand- father, Jervis Grecne, was one of the pioneer settlers of Kentucky, emigrating there from North Carolina, while the country was yet a wilderness. His life there was very insecure, and he was eventually killed by the Indians at the battle of Blue Licks, August, 1781. The son of the last-mentioned resided in Kentucky for ten years after his marriage, but removed to Overton, Tennessee, and engaged in farming on the Cumberland, near the mouth of Obey's river, and there six of his children were born. After he had resided in that section some fifteen years, he determined to remove to Illinois, although that name was subsequently bestowed upon it. The French settlers of St. Louis called it St. Gamie; and Sangama, Sangaman, and Sangamon were variations of this. The family reached a point, now in Menard county, near where Tallula is at present situated, and there settled, purchasing a farm, with a few improve- ments ; and this was subsequently the residence of his father and mother until their death. William was but nine years old when they removed to Illinois ; and his early edu- cation was only that obtained in the neighborhood. Al- though the facilities for receiving instruction were very limited, he, nevertheless, was a good student, and what he then learned became the basis of a sound and substantial education. His father's house was near Salem, and when Abraham Lincoln made that place his home, in 1831, young Greene became one of his acquaintances, and a friendship [ land dealer and farmer, in both of which he was very suc-

was formed that lasted till the death of the latter. Lincoln was then twenty-one and Greene three years his junior ; but as far as education was concerned the latter had the ad- vantage, and from him Lincoln learned his first lessons in English grammar. The same year witnessed the breaking out of the Black Hawk war, and a call for volunteers was issued by Governor Reynolds. Young Greene responded, and became a private in a company of mounted rangers under Captain Adam Smith. No fighting, however, oc- curred during this campaign. In the spring of 1832 the war broke out afresh, and Illinois was invaded by the savages. Another call for troops was made, and this time he became a private in the company under the eom- mand of Abraham Lincoln. Their three months' service was one of hardships rather than glory. On Greene's return home he worked a year on his father's farm, and in 1833 became a student in the Illinois College, at Jacksonville, where he remained three years. It had some of the features of a manual labor school ; the students were paid from six to eight cents an hour for their labor, but paid for their board, washing and tuition, the room-rent being free. He was a diligent scholar, studying late at night, and recited and labored by day. So industrious was he, that he not only paid all expenses, but had the means to enter 160 acres of government land. Richard Yates was a student in the institution at the same time, and a lasting friendship was formed between the two. On one occasion, while Yates was Greene's guest, during a vacation, they visited Salem and the latter introduced his friend to Lincoln ; and thus the great war-Governor of Illinois and the great war-Presi- dent began their acquaintance. At the conclusion of his college course, young Greene went to Kentucky, near Dan- ville, where he first became a private tutor in the family of George Carpenter, a prominent man in that section. IIe also taught a grammar school by lectures for some time with great success ; and then went to Tennessee, where he became Principal of the Priestly Academy in White county ; and it was here where he formed the acquaintance of the lady to whom he was subsequently united in marriage. He returned to Illinois shortly after that event, where he re- sided about eighteen months, but returned to Tennessee, was appointed Deputy Sheriff of the county, and also be- came engaged in agricultural operations. In 1842 he re- moved to Mississippi and settled at Aberdeen; but owing to the insalubrity of the climate remained only six months, and thence repaired to Memphis, where, with a capital of a little over $100, he started a family grocery and provision store. He resided in that city two years and a half, and during that period, beside carrying on his store, made several trips down the river by flat-boat to New Orleans with farm products. Ilis business proved prosperous, and he acquired considerable property. In the spring of 1845 he returned to Illinois with his family, and purchased a farm in Mason county, on Quiver creek, and began operations as a general

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BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPEDIA.

cessful. In 1853 he disposed of his property in Mason county and purchased the farm near Tallula, on which he has ever since resided. He here entered largely into farm- ing and stock-dealing, meeting with the same success that has attended almost every enterprise in which he ever en- gaged. He has also assisted largely in the railroad develop- ments of the State. He was one of the original Directors of the Tonica and Petersburg Railroad, which has since be- come incorporated with the Jacksonville Division of the Chicago and Alton road, and was also interested in building up several towns along the line. Mason City is one of these. Greenview has its name from hi.n, and he was one of the original founders of Tallula. His keen business fore- sight brought him in possession of several town sites along the route of the Chicago and Alton road, and subsequently, when the towns were built up, he was enabled to realize a handsome sum from his investments. The Jacksonville Division was in a very precarious condition at the con- clusion of Yates' administration as President. At that time he was one of the Directors, and was persuaded to become President. The energy and business sagacity he brought to his duties were mainly effectual in placing the road on a firmer basis than it had ever before known. The company was saved from bankruptcy, and the judgment of the other Directors thoroughly justified in assigning him the task. He was active in obtaining the charter of the Springfield and Northwestern Railroad; was one of the original Board of Directors, and its first President. It was largely through his energy that subscriptions for the building of the road were obtained, and a portion of the line constructed. Upon the road passing into the possession of the present lessee, Mr. Greene retired from the management. His political con- victions prior to 1860 led him to act mostly with the Demo- cratic party. He, however, voted for his old friend, Lincoln, for President ; and, indeed, he it was who paved the way and initiated the movement which made Yates the Governor of Illinois, and eventually secured the nomination of Lin- coln for the Presidency. At the outbreak of the Rebellion his sympathies were warmly enlisted in the support of the administration, and Central Illinois knew no stronger Union man than he. Three of his sons enlisted in the army, and fought during the war. In the darkest hour of the conflict, when the Government called for money, none was more ready than he to furnish it. Upon the passage of the Internal Revenue Act considerable trouble was anticipated in the Ninth Illinois District, in which Menard county was em- braced. He was appointed by President Lincoln to put the law in successful operation, and though he accepted the office with some reluctance, he thoroughly organized the system and all conflict with the people was avoided. His friendship with the President was still maintained, and hc was frequently his guest at Washington. In his own section his assistance was important in preventing threatened col- lisions between agents of the Government and parties dis- affected with the war measures. Ilis influence was always

sought by aspirants from Illinois for political appointments at the hands of the President. He was an earnest supporter of President Lincoln to his life's end, and none mourned more sincerely over his untimely grave or lavished richer honors on his memory. He continued a Republican for some years thereafter, and in 1868 his name was brought prominently forward as the Republican candidate for Con- gress. Latterly, his views became conservative, and in 1872 he supported Horace Greeley for President. He has been closely identified with business enterprises near his home, and his energy and capital have done much toward the development of the manufacturing and commercial interests of the county. In connection with J. A. Brahm, in September, 1866, he established at Petersburg the first bank in Menard county. The institution known as the banking firm of " Brahm & Greene " is on a firm and sub- stantial basis; and was one of the few banks that went through the panic of 1873 without a suspension of payments, though much of their deposits was locked up in other cities, and for the time beyond their control. He is also largely interested in the South Valley Coal Shaft, in Petersburg ; and is one of the principal parties who have brought to their present successful opcration the woollen mills of the same place. In the town of Petersburg he has ever taken a deep interest, and its growth has afforded him peculiar gratifica- tion. He has acquired a handsome fortune, and makes his wealth a means of comfort and happiness to himself and others. His residence is a model of quiet elegance and taste ; his home is surrounded with every comfort, and with his wife he dispenses a genial and generous hospitality with the ease and grace of the olden time. His private life has been embellished by deeds of liberality, which honor alike his goodness of heart as they do justice to his wisdom and forethought. IIe is ever ready to assist young men of ability who are striving to battle for fame and fortune. In every public improvement he has been an active participant, subscribing for all measures looking to the public welfare with a liberality that has never been wanting. He was mar- ried, March 31st, 1837, to Louisa A , daughter of Woodson P. White, of White county, Tennessee, and they have had nine children, of whom seven, six sons and one daughter, are now living. The children inherit largely the peculiar characteristics of their parents. The sons are enterprising farmers ; their only daughter, Katie, is securing her education at the old Moravian Seminary, at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

OUNG, DELOS W., M. D., Physician, was born, 1829, in Montgomery county, New York, where he received a common school education. In 1841 his parents removed to Kendall county, Illinois, and he remained on their farm until he was eighteen years old, when he went to Aurora, and commenced the study of medicine with Dr. Nicholas Ilard, on whom he made a most favorable impression by

BIOGRAPHICAL ENCYCLOPÆDIA.

his industrious, studious habits, and his indomitable per- severance. In due course he obtained a medical diploma and entered upon the practice of his profession, in which he was eminently successful, few men in the State having equal reputation as surgeon, or better skill as a physician than he. IIe was naturally a public man, and commenced at an early age to take an active part in political matters and to hold public positions. He was always an earnest abolitionist and unflinching Republican, casting his maiden vote for John P. Hale for the Presidency. Soon after the breaking out of the War of the Rebellion he entered very heartily into the formation of the 36th Regiment Illinois Volunteers, and was commissioned Surgeon of the same; he held this posi- tion until his resignation in 1874. He saw much service in the field, and matured and finished his natural skill in surgery. At home he filled many positions of trust and honor. He served in the Common Council in 1858, '59, and in 1870, '71, and at the time of his death was serving another term. IIe was elected Mayor in 1864, and re- elected in 1865 and 1866, being the only one who ever suc- ceeded himself in that office. He also served in the Board of Supervisors, representing Aurora in 1865, '66, '67. The estimation in which he was held by his fellow-citizens is fully attested by the fact that at the time of his death he was not only a prominent member of the Common Council, but one of the Board of Education, and President of the Aurora Silver Plate Manufacturing Company. He was emphatically a self-made man, and took no small pleasure at times in recounting the struggles of the first years he passed in Aurora, when he labored from morning to night at menial work for his board, while he carnestly devoted all the time he could obtain to the study of the medical profession. In that profession he was an enthusiast. He took a leading part in the County and State Medical Societies, and several of his essays upon medical topics have been published. His library always contained the best known treatises, which were faithfully studied. In all public matters he had opinions and expressed them. He was largely instrumental in direct- ing public opinion to the erection of the magnificent Central School-house in Aurora, and many other public enterprises were largely promoted by him. He was one of the best known men in the community. To his domestic relations he was much devoted ; he was a tender husband and an affectionate father. He died, September 8th, 1874, after a brief but severe illness.

in the winter following this migration, which occurred late in 1816, the little household was domiciled in a log cabin in the heart of what was then an almost interminable forest of northern Ohio. Here he spent his youth, obtaining in the interim of the seasons of farm labor a good common school education, and here was developed a strong inclina- tion for the work of the Christian ministry. In his thirteenth year, then ambitious for a collegiate education, he com- menced the study of the Latin language with his brother, whose desires were kindred with his own, and together they labored diligently with the limited means placed at their advantage for self-culture. Thus he obtained a very good preparatory standing for a college course, and before his seventeenth year was thoroughly acquainted with the ÆEneid, Georgics and Bucolics of Virgil, with the works of Sallust and Cæsar, the orations of Cicero, and the more important productions of literature during the Augustan Age of ancient Rome. In the summer of 1822, in company with his elder brother and Elizur Wright, since not unknown to fame, he went to New Haven and was enrolled among the freshmen of Vale. By careful attention to his studies, by making the most out of all the advantages afforded him, he graduated with distinction in 1826, and in a class of 101 was regarded as one of its best scholars. Upon his graduation he assumed the office of Principal in an academy at New Canaan, Con- necticut, and retained it for nearly two years, when he en- tered the Theological Department of Yale. While prose- cuting his studies here he joined an association of his fellow- students whose object was the selection of some State in the Mississippi Valley where all should seek their homes ; where they might unite their efforts for the founding of churches, schools, and a college, and the fostering of all institutions which tended to develop a Christian civilization. Their Eastern friends readily contributed to aid them in this noble mission, and, after considerable correspondence, Illinois was selected as their future home and field of labor. This State was then in its infancy, having in 1830 less than 160,000 inhabitants. In 1829 Dr. Sturtevant married Elizabeth Maria Fayreweather, of New Canaan, Connecticut, and soon after, accompanied by his wife and his life-long friend, Rev. T. Baldwin, he emigrated to Illinois. In December of that year he and his associates organized the Board of Trustees of Illinois College, at Jacksonville, and he was selected to open the institution for the reception of pupils. On the morning of January 4th, 1830, in an unfinished building, the southern half of what is now known as the Library, he met nine students, and with him as its individual faculty, and these few students as its first matriculants, the institu-

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 5

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