The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 64

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

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exacted the greatest experience, tact and discernment to | editor he acquired considerable reputation as a vigorous secure success, using the banking privileges that had been granted to the Alton Marine and Fire Insurance Company. Under that name, and invested with that authority, he car- ried on a large and growing banking business until the free banking law of the State of Illinois went into effect, which took place in 1852, when he established the Alton Bank and assumed its Presidency. In 1865 it ceased to operate under the old State system, and under the enactments of Congress was erected into a national bank. He has always been at the head of this institution, which under his masterly management has passed safely through all the financial crises that have occurred during the past thirty years. It

has never yet failed to meet an obligation, and when merely a State bank, and at a time when financial operations were recklessly conducted, the notes of the Alton Bank were al- ways accepted by the people without any apprehension of their becoming worthless. The bank of to-day is one of the soundest in the country, and transacts a very large and flourishing business. Confidence in it has never yet been shaken ; on the contrary, it has grown into daily-increasing popularity, its management being regarded as both prudent and able. Mr. Marsh was among the early settlers of Alton, and was prominent in all those public enterprises which tended towards its rapid growth. He is a man of the most irreproachable character, a keen and cautious finan- cier, and is held in high respect for his qualifications as a business man and as a private citizen. He was married in 1832 to Ann Cox, of Ohio, who died in 1836. He was married again in 1840 to Mary S. Caldwell, of Massachu- setts, who still lives.

ARKER, GEORGE W., Lawyer, Vice President and General Manager of St. Louis, Alton & Terre Ilaute Railroad, was born in Springfield, Illinois, August 12th, 1836. His father, Leonard B. Parker, was a cabinet-maker, formerly of Ken- tucky, who died when George W. was quite young, and, like most of the Western pioneers at that early day, left very little property. ITis mother, Elizabeth A. Fairleigh, belonged to a prominent Kentucky family, who were among the pioneers of that State. At the decease of her husband she returned to her native State with her two little boys, George and Andrew, and settled in Elizabeth- town. At the academy in that town George W. received the preliminary education it afforded, and then entered the office of the Elizabethtown Register to learn the printer's trade. After a service of four years, and by the assistance of friends, he became proprietor of the paper, and, changing its name to the Intelligencer, successfully conducted it for two years. Ile then closed out his interest, and removing to Glasgow, Kentucky, established there the Glasgow Free Press. This paper he conducted for one year, and having put it on a firm basis, sold out to an advantage. As an

writer. Having thus by his own exertions and industry ac- cumulated some means, he was enabled to commence the study of law, which profession he had decided to follow. Accordingly he entered the office of Colonel Thomas B. Fairleigh, at Brandenburg, Kentucky, in 1859 (now a prom- inent practitioner at the bar of Louisville, Kentucky). Here he remained for two years, at the same time attending the Law Department of the University at Louisville, graduat- ing therefrom in March, 1861; and being then admitted to the bar, located at once in Charleston, Illinois. He asso- ciated himself with Eli Wiley, his present partner, and has since been in active practice, and is among the acknowl- edged leaders of the bar in central Illinois. In 1865 Mr. Parker was appointed chief counsel for the St. Louis, Al- ton & Terre Haute Railroad, which position he filled until 1867, when he became Vice-President of the road, and sub- sequently, appreciating his executive ability, he was also chosen Treasurer and General Manager of that company. His numerous duties in these positions require most of his time, but he still holds his legal connection with Mr. Wiley, appearing in the courts when necessary. In 1868 Mr. Parker was elected on the Republican ticket to the Legis- lature (receiving the largest Republican majority given in the county at that time), where he served one term of two years. Since that time he has eschewed politics almost entirely. Originally a Whig, on coming to Illinois he al- lied himself with the Republican party, being a strong Union man. During 1871 and 1872 he acted as Mayor of Charles- ton, Illinois ; was for several years a member of the Execu- tive Committee of the Republican party of Illinois. He was married in 1863 to Nellie, daughter of Dr. Aaron Ferguson, the pioneer physician of Charleston. Her mother, née Susan P. Morton, was the daughter of Charles Morton, the founder of the town, and from him it derives its name.

ILKINSON, WINFIELD SCOTT, Civil Engi- neer, Surveyor and Farmer, was born in Ska- neateles, Onondaga county, New York, September IIth, 1812. His parents were Alfred Wilkinson and Susan (Smith) Wilkinson. In 1836 he re- moved to Jacksonville, Illinois, and was em- ployed by the State as engineer on the State railroads for three years. In 1839 he moved to Como, Whitesides county, where he remained for several years. In 1856 he went to Sterling, and in 1858 settled in Morrison, con- stantly engaged in the interim in surveying and farming. In 1844-1845 he was an active and prominent member of the Illinois Legislature, where he served with ability and rectitude. He was also a member of the Illinois State Senate from 1870 to 1872. He has been Surveyor of White- sides county four terms, and County Clerk three terms, from 1857 to 1869. He was also for one term Associate

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Justice. In 1855 he surveyed the town of Morrison, in | it, could be found in any of the authorities. These cases Whitesides county. He is a leading and influential citizen of his county, and his many estimable characteristics have won for him the respect and estcem of the community amid which he is an honored member. He was married in 1841 to Frances C. Sampson, formerly a resident of Duxbury, Massachusetts ; a lineal descendant on the pater- nal side of the famous Captain Miles Standish, the hero of that band of pilgrims who crossed the ocean in the " Mayflower," and landed on Plymouth Rock.

INDETTE, ARTHUR W., Lawyer, was born, 1828, near the ancient cathedral city of Norwich, Norfolk county, England. He is of Huguenot descent, his ancestors having left France during the persecutions of that church, and found a refuge in the British Isles. His father, John Windette, emigrated to the United States in IS36, and settled on Fox river, about fifty miles from Chicago. He selected some fine lands in this locality, which lie culti- vated, and this splendid property is still in possession of the family. Previous to his leaving his native country, Arthur had acquired the rudiments of an English educa- tion, and he received thorough academical instruction in the classics and mathematics, in the seminary presided over by Rev. A. M. Stuart, in Chicago, where a class of young men, of whom he was one, were specially trained in the higher branches of the mathematics and classical literature. On attaining his majority he entered the office of John J. Brar, then a leading practitioner, as a student-at-law, where he remained until his admission to the bar, in July, IS50. He at once entered upon the practice of his pro- fession, and from the first was engaged in very important cases, involving large private interests. His first leading case was that of The People vs. Thurber, in which he took the plaintiffs' side, and won it, which was his first im- portant success in the Supreme Court. He was next en- gaged, also for the plaintiff, in the suit of Stow vs. Yawood, which was twice before the Supreme Court, and in both cases he carried the litigation to a successful termination for his client. To this succeeded the case of Link vs. The Architectural Iron Works, of New York, where hc again was interested in the plaintiff's behalf, and which lc gained. In the case of Curtis vs. Brown, he appeared for the defendant, whose case he so ably argued, and though he was opposed by an array of the ablest legal talent of the State, he gained the day, and his client's causcs. This case of Curtis vs. Brown is remarkable as turning on the question as to the power of the High Court of Chan- cery, in England, to sell a trust estate belonging to a mar- ried woman in violation of the terms of the deed creating the trust. The power had been exercised in England, but no discussion of the point, nor formal decision upon

are cited, not only because they involved peculiar points of law, but for the reason that they are widely known and quoted as precedents. His practice, which has ex- tended through a fourth of a century, has won for him an extended reputation, and which is second to none in the State. Whether in the preparation of a case or in arguing it before a court or jury he is equally efficient, having the faculty of presenting it with clearness, forcc, and effect, while, avoiding all extraneous matters, he pro- ceeds directly to the point at issue. In his arguments, he invariably leaves the impression that he thoroughly under- stands his case in all its bearings and phases, and can present the salient points clearly and logically. He had the misfortune to lose, during the great fire of October, 1871, his fine legal and private libraries; the former con- taining, among other choice and valuable works, a com- plete set of volumes on Roman Jurisprudence, not easily attainable; while in the latter were fine Oxford editions of the classics. He has fortunately since succeeded in replacing a majority of them. He is largely interested in real estate, being the owner of some of the finest property in Chicago and its suburbs. In his business transactions as well as in his law practice, he is possessed of unusual discernment and foresight. In political matters he is a Republican by conviction, but is no politician, never hav- ing held nor sought office. He was married in 1852 to Marcia D., daughter of the late Ilon. Jesse Kimball, cf Bradford, Massachusetts, who died within a year after their union. Ile was again married in 1856 to Eliza Duncan, youngest daughter of the late James Duncan, the founder and resident of Massillon, Ohio.

YTLE, FRANCIS W., Physician, was born in Ligonier Valley, Westmoreland county, Penn- sylvania, on the 21st of October, 1819. His father was a native of Ireland, from which country he was brought when but six months old; and his mother was a native of Pennsyl- vania, but was of Scotch descent, having been nearly related to Robert Pollock, the author of the "Course ( f Timc." Francis attended the common schools at his native place, and on leaving school was employed for four years in a mercantile establishment. On leaving this he engaged in teaching school, which engaged his time and attention for a year. He then emigrated to Kentucky, and there he resumed school teaching, and continued it for two years. At the expiration of that time he com- menced the study of medicine, studying with Dr. John W. Ilood, the father of General John W. Hood, of the Con- federate army. For two years he continued his studies, and then he began the practice of his profession in Henry county, Kentucky. At the expiration of two years he

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removed from Kentucky to Tennessee, and in that State he resumed the practice of medicine and continued it for a year and a half. Then he returned to Kentucky, estab- lishing himself at Lexington. Here he resumed and com- pleted his medical studies, graduating from the Medical Department of the Transylvania University in 1847. This accomplished, he moved to Troy, Madison county, Illinois, and entered upon the practice of his profession in that place. He remained here until 1862, when he entered the army as Assistant Surgeon of the 5Ist Regiment Illi- nois Volunteer Infantry. In April, 1863, he was promoted to the rank of Surgeon in the 36th Regiment Illinois Infantry, which position he held until 1865. In the month of May, in that year, he was mustered out of the service. During his term of military service he took part in many engagements; among them were the battles of Stone River, Chattanooga, Chickamauga, and Mission Ridge. At this place he had charge of General Sheridan's field hospital, and in the succeeding summer he had charge of the same division in the field until the army reached Atlanta. From this place he went to Nashville, and was there placed in charge of the officers' hospital. . Returning home after leaving the army he remained in Troy but six months, when he moved to Lebanon, where he has re- mained ever since in the active practice of his profession. Ile is now in the enjoyment of a large and lucrative practice there. He was married in 1845 to Florida M. Routt, of Tennessee. His business prosperity has not been without its drawbacks. While in Troy he was interested in a carriage factory, but the venture proved unlucky, and he had to make up the losses in this direction out of the profits arising from his profession.

ORNER, HENRY H., Lawyer, was born on the 22d of February, 1821, in Lebanon, Illinois. His father was Nathan Horner, who was a native of Baltimore, Maryland, and his mother was a native of Virginia. They were married in Xenia, Ohio, in 1817, and removed to Illinois soon after their marriage. Henry received his collegiate education at McKendree College, Illinois, and on graduating he was made a tutor in the institution. At the expiration of six months he was made Professor of Ancient Lan- guages, and filled that position for a year, when he began the study of law, and at the expiration of three years was admitted to the bar; and immediately thereafter he commenced the practice of his profession in St. Clair county, where he has continued ever since. In 1866 he was elected to the position of Professor in the Law Depart- ment of McKendree College, which position he still fills. In the year 1874 he was elected Mayor of Lebanon, and in 1875 he was re-elected to the office. Aside from this he has steadfastly declined to hold any public office; and his

acceptance of the Mayoralty was due entirely to the strong interest he takes in his native place. He was the first to hold the office of Mayor in Lebanon. Aside from his extensive law practice, he is kept constantly engaged in superintending his large landed estate. Hle was married in 1858 to IIelen M. Danforth, of St. Albans, Vermont.

ILLER, AMBROSE MARSHALL, M. D., was born in Baltimore, Maryland, October 6th, 1829. His parents were Henry G. Miller and Anna (Smith) Miller, both residents of Baltimore. His paternal grandfather, Henry Miller, was a well-known citizen of Millerstown, Pennsyl- vania; his maternal grandfather, James L. Smith, of Baltimore, Maryland, was a descendant of one of the oldest families of Maryland. His great-grandfather was an active and noted participant in the Revolutionary war, having served efficiently in Smallwood's Battalion. At a yet remoter period, his ancestors were men of mark and influence, respected by their contemporaries and favorably known for talents and acquirements of a diversified nature. His preparatory education was acquired at an excellent private school located in his native city, where, in addition to a regular course of study in the elementary, practical, and literary branches, he made advances also toward the acquisition of a knowledge of the science of medicine. He subsequently completed his professional training at the Washington University, of Baltimore, from which institution he eventually graduated. Upon the relinquish- ment of school life, he was placed in the Chemical Labora- tory of his cousin, Dr. C. P. Stevenson; this event occur- ring previous to his actual entry upon the study of medicine, his connection with the above-named scientist being considered in the light of a preparatory examen. While in his seventeenth year he entered the office of his cousin, Dr. James S. Stevenson, a talented and distin- guished physician of Baltimore, and there, under the pre- ceptorship of this able tutor, completed his medical edu- cation. He afterward practised his profession for a brief period in Baltimore; then, in 1853, removed to the West, and settled in Illinois. There he entered energetically upon the active practice of his profession, primarily at Milton, Pike county, then at Winchester, Scott county, establishing himself ultimately in Lincoln, Logan county, where he has permanently resided during the past eighteen years. He has held the office of Attending Physician to the Northeastern Dispensary of Baltimore; and while officiating in this capacity was also appointed by Mayor Hollins, Vaccine Physician for the Eighth Ward of Balti- more. During the years 1866, 1867, and 1868, he was President of the Logan County Medical Society; and while performing the functions of that position elicited numerous encomiums from his colleagues for his tact and

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effective administration. In politics he is an old school Democrat, and despite his extensive practice and the attendant cares and duties, has found time to devote to the consideration of public matters in their relations to the interests of his adopted State and city. In 1862 he was elected to the Legislature of Illinois, and in 1864 secured a re-election, the merited award of a constituency grateful for valuable services performed with loyalty and ability at an important period. His clearly defined States' rights views were incessantly and bitterly denounced by his political encmies; but those who were familiar with his sentiments and principles never, for an instant, doubted his patriotism or his motives. He is notable for the power he wields in conventions, and is widely recognized as an honorable and powerful political ally. He has been a constant contributor of prose and poetry to the Lincoln papers, and in 1860 wrote an essay, entitled " The Alpha and Omega of Art," which was published in the Logan County Democrat, and subsequently widely copied in whole or in part. He is a liberal patron of literature and the arts, is the possessor of an extensive and varied store of learning, and, in regard to scholarly attainments, is not excelled in the State of Illinois. IIe is President of the Board of Education of the city of Lincoln, an office which he has occupied during the past ten years. He was the originator and promoter of most of the public enterprises of the city and county, and has always been a prime mover in all matters relating to the well-being of his fellow-towns- men. He is Secretary and Treasurer of the Pekin, Lin- coln & Decatur Railroad Company, and a Director and stockholder in the Lincoln Gas Company, of which institu- tion he is Secretary. He was married, in December, 1854, to a daughter of Captain Peygrane, a former resident of Petersburgh, Virginia.

ment land in La Salle county, Illinois, where the town of Farm Ridge is now located, and in the following year removed to it with his family. The land was then wild and unbroken, but by his individual energy he soon placed it in fine condition for cultivation, and in a short time made it one of the finest estates in that section. He was elected Justice of the Peace of Vermillion Precinct, and retained that office for fourteen consecutive years. In 1837 his wife died from consumption, and he was married to Adeline O. Field, of West Brookfield, Massachusetts, in I838. Farm Ridge, the town which soon grew up at the locality where he had settled, advanced steadily into prosperity. He was chosen its Postmaster, and for twenty years exer- cised the functions of that office. On the organization of the county into townships he was elected Town Supervisor, and held that position six years, for two years of this period being Chairman of the Board. In 1857 he was elected to a seat in the House of Representatives of Illinois for two years, and was again chosen in 1867 for the same term. He was a member, and for five years Chairman, of the State Board of Charities, and in this capacity did a great work in ameliorating the condition of those who became inmates in charitable or correctional institutions. In 1872 he was elected to the State Senate from La Salle county for two years. He was one of the originators and a Trustee of Farm Ridge Seminary, a very fine educational enterprise. He is a thorough adherent to temperance principles, and in diet is nearly a strict vegetarian, having at an early day adopted this habit in consequence of poor health. He still maintains this dietary system from the fact that since he first adopted it, over thirty years ago, he has not been pros- trated by sickness for one day. This is a remarkable record, which goes far to support the theory of vegetarians. Mr. Baldwin is a gentleman of many acquirements, and has been active in promoting public works, and in securing the highest possible forms of intellectual and material prosperity for the section in which he resides.

ALDWIN, HON. ELMER, Agriculturalist, Justice of the Peace, and Member of the Legislature, was born in Litchfield county, Connecticut, March Sth, 1806, being the son of Noble and Mary (Hinman) Baldwin. His father was a IXON, JOHN, Pioneer, was born in the village of Rye, Westchester county, New York, October 9th, 1784. At an early age he removed to New York city, where for about fifteen years he was the proprietor of a clothing store and merchant tailoring establishment. In addition to the suc- cessful prosecution of business he was untiring in his efforts for the promotion of temperance and religious interests, and in this connection became one of the active members and Directors of the first Bible Society organized in the United States. This was organized February 16th, 1809, under the name of " The Young Men's Bible Society of the City of New York." While thus engaged premonitory symptoms of pulmonary disease manifested themselves, farmer, and his mother was a woman of great industry and sincere piety. Although the only educational facilities he enjoyed were those afforded in the common schools he became so proficient in the various branches of learning by self-application that at sixteen he commenced to teach, and continued in this capacity until twenty-two years of age, passing his summers in work upon his father's farm. He then started a store in New Milford, which he managed for three years, selling out then on account of ill- health, occasioned by too close confinement. He purchased a farm, and worked it for five years, entirely recovering his health by the physical exercise which it required. In 1831 he was married to Adaline Benson, of New Milford. In IS35 he journeyed West, and took up a tract of govern- ! making a change of climate necessary. Under the advice

Salary que Co Phanda

John Sifon Lon

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of his physician he disposed of his interests in the city, and | the Rock river valley seriously curtailed the profits of the in 1820, in company with Mrs. Dixon and children, and his brother-in-law, Charles S. Boyd, and family (now of Princeton, Illinois), sct out for the then Great West-the western prairies. In those primitive times the best mode of conveyance for a journey of such magnitude was the slow-going ox-team and covered lumber wagon. This mode was adopted; and the two families, with all needed appliances for comfort, moved west to Pittsburgh, where a flat-boat was procured. With this arrangement the two families descended the Ohio to Shawneetown, Illinois, from which point they struck across the country to Sangamon county, and settled on Fancy Creek, nine miles from the present site of Springfield, just seventy-two days after leaving New York. It may be remarked that these gentle- men, in looking over the vast undulating plains of the Northwest, dotted here and there with groves, and traversed by streams, little thought of ever witnessing in the same region a teeming population, railroads, telegraph lines, bridges, manufactories, cities, and vast agricultural improve- ments. But such have been the changes. In 1825 Judge Sawyer, whose circuit nominally embraced northwestern Illinois, requested Mr. Dixon to take the appointment of Circuit Clerk, and remove to the then village of Peoria, which he did, receiving also from Governor Cowles the appointment of Recorder. While thus engaged the govern- ment decided upon giving Galena mail facilities once in two weeks, and Mr. Dixon threw in a bid which was accepted. In order to secure a passage for the mails over Rock river he induced a man by the name of Ogee-a French and Indian half-breed-to establish a ferry at the point now known as Dixon. This done, the travel to and from the lead mines so rapidly increased that Ogee's coffers became full-too full indeed for his moral powers to bear ; the result was constant inebriation. To avoid the delays in the transmission of the mails which these irregularities en. tailed, Mr. Dixon bought the ferry from Ogee, and, in April, 1830, removed his family to that point. From that date the place, as a point for crossing the river, became known as Dixon's Ferry. At that time a large portion of the Winnebago tribe of Indians occupied this part of the Rock river country. Mr. Dixon so managed his business relations with them as to secure their entire confidence and friendship, which, on the return of the Sauks and Foxes, under their war-chief, Black Hawk, in 1832, proved to be of inestimable benefit to himself and family. He was recognized by them as the "red man's friend," and in accordance with the universal practice of the race, who

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 64

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