USA > Illinois > The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century > Part 67
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REW, HON. CALVIN II., Lawyer, was born in Cleveland, Ohio. While in his early boyhood hc removed with his parents, Robert Frew and Anna S. Frew, exemplary Presbyterians, to Northfield, then to Putnam eounty, Ohio, and settled on a farm, which was ultimately paid for by the aid of his and his brother's labor. During the winter months he attended the publie sehool, and in the summer season was employed in laboring on the farm. Upon attaining his seventeenth year he engaged in teaching, and rapidly se- cured the esteem of his fellow-townsmen by his studious habits, his energy, and his effieieney. By teaching in the winters he earned money to defray his educational expenses during the summers at the Findley, Ohio, High School, and Beaver Academy, Pennsylvania, except the last year, which was spent in the Vermillion Institute, Ohio. In 1862 he became the Principal of the High School of Kalida, by means of which he paid his sehool indebtedness. There he commenced the study of law with llon. I. Budd. In 1863 and 1864 he continued his legal studies with the firm of Hon. Jas. Strain & A. Kidder, of Monmouth, Illinois, offi- eiating part of the same time as Principal of the Union School at Young Ameriea. In the spring of 1865 he re- moved to Paxton, and in the same year was admitted to the bar by the Supreme Court of Illinois, seeuring within a remarkably short period of time an extensive and lucrative
praetiee, and operating also in real estate. Early in 186S he was urged to be a candidate for the Legislature of Illi- nois for the district composed of Ford and Iroquois coun- ties. He at first declincd the proffered honor, but finally was induced to acquiesee in the expressed and earnest wishes of a large number of the leading Republicans of that day, and was put forward against B. F. Dye, an able man and prominent farmer residing ncar Paxton. His opponent employed evcry means to seeure the delegates from Ford, who were chosen by ballot at the primary eleetion held by the Republicans of Ford for that purpose. A full vote was out, and he won by three hundred and ninety-four to one hundred and eighty-six. The campaign was then earried into Iroquois eounty, and here again he was sueeessful in seeuring the delegates, and on July 27th was nominated at Gilman, in convention, by twenty-three votes to onc for Michael L. Sullivant, the great farmer of Ford county. The opposition was not satisfied, and ealling a people's eonven- tion, nominated M. L. Sullivant, while the Demoerats put into the field Mieogah Stanley, of Watseka, thus making a triangular confliet. Both of the opponents were men of wealth and influence. The final result of the campaign was his election by a large majority over both Sullivant and Stanley. Upon the assembling of the Legislature he was appointed Chairman of the Committee of Enrolled and En- grossed Bills of the House, and also Chairman of the Joint Committee of the Senatc and House of the same, and a member of the Judiciary and Education Committee. In speaking of his eourse while eonneeted with those eommit- tces, the Republican of Watseka said: " The Hon. C. HI. Frew shows all the ingenuity and skill as a legislator of an old member, goes ahead of them all in industry, attending promptly to the business before the house, and working early and late on the several committees of which he is a member. No young man in that body has a more promising future before him." While the Gilman Journal, April 14th, 1869, says : " His energetic and faithful labors in the interests of his eonstitueney have seeured for him the appro- bation and confidence of his constituents." The Paxton Record thus strongly endorscs him : "One faet is recog- nized by the people of this legislative distriet : that no mem- ber acquitted himself with more eredit to liis constituents or more ability, taking into consideration his experience in bodies of that kind, nor filled so many places of responsi- bility with perfeet fidelity to his trusts. His votes will be found in every instanee in the interests of the people against monopolies and in favor of the right. 'Well done, good and faithful servant.'" The Legal News also paid him a high compliment for his efficieney. He was subsequently the choice of his distriet for the Constitutional Convention. Coneerning cvents and matters relating to that convention and its attendant eampaign, the remarks of The Record, of November 6th, 1869, will throw mueh light: "The bricf time elapsing between the nomination and elcetion left no time for Mr. Frew to devote to his own, and but a slight
Galaxy Pub Co. Philada
Calvin Restran
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canvass could be made in Iroquois county, he having no opportunity to visit only one-half of the township of that county ; but every town in which meetings were held, at which he and his opponents spoke, went for Frew. And it is a fair proposition that a similar result would have fol- lowed in most of the others." Before the nomination- August 6th, 1869-the Chicago Tribune said: "Frew is urged by his friends to become a candidate for the Consti- tutional Convention. During the long and try- ing session of last winter he discharged the duties of his position with marked fidelity and intelligence." He was subsequently re-elected to the Legislature from the counties of Ford and Kankakee as re-districted. The events con- nected with this affair furnished proofs of the most incon- testable nature that his defeat of the previous year was occasioned, not by disinclination on the part of the people to assure his election, but to manifold troubles arising out of the confusion attendant on the short campaign, convention bolting, and his inability through inevitable obstacles to stem the torrent of unfair proceedings brought into play by un- scrupulous opponents, who availed themselves of every means to prevent the people from becoming thoroughly acquainted with his sterling traits and characteristics. It will be remembered that when a candidate for the Consti- tutional Convention Ford county gave him but a light vote ; while in the succeeding year, grown cognizant of his worth, it gave him nearly a unanimous vote of both parties, and Kankakee was carried over the regular nominee by a sur- prisingly large majority. Under the new Constitution Ford and Iroquois counties were primarily put by the Governor into one district, while Kankakee formed a district of itself, both districts being allowed two members. After the nomi- nation by Kankakee of both hcr representatives, Ford county was detached from Iroquois, and, without her knowledge, attached to Kankakee county, with no change in the number of her representatives. This procedure, not unnaturally, produced great confusion, resulting in the run- ning by Kankakee of two Republican candidates, Ford county having but one ; the Democrats, as a party, support- ing their own candidate. Here then was presented a favor- able opportunity for his adversaries to strike him effectively ; yet despite every effort made by them, and the unfavorable position necessarily occupied by him, he ultimately van- quished every element of resistance, and, supported by the love and esteem of his fellow-citizens, was crowned trium- phantly with the laurel of success. In the second term he was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Retrench- ments, and on the Committee of Judiciary and Insurance. Regarding these matters the Momence Reporter, January 19th, 1871, said : "His well-known energy and working talent is the only recommendation he needs to satisfy all that the duties allotted to him will be promptly attended to, and his frank and fearless independence will at once place his disapproving hand on the throat of any sneaking trick- ster designing to rob the public treasury." The general
character of his course may again be gathered from contem- porary notices in various organs, friendly and hostile. Says the Chicago Post, April 8th, 1871, an opposition journal : " The measures under consideration have called out every conceivable style of elocution, from the twanging nasality of Nelson, of . Macon, to the Webstcrian thunderbolts of Frew, of Ford. The latter gentleman is altogether a man who should be considered by himself. If Frew is not a thorough genius, the fault should be laid at nature's door. He seldom fails; in fact, in the vocabulary of Frew there is no such word as 'phail.'" The Chicago Times, January 27th, 1872, classed him "among the young men who have decided opinions on civil service and other isms." January 29th in the same year this journal said : " The young muscle element represented by the rising men Frew and others out- manœuvred and outgeneralled the old ring corruptionists at every turn." He procured the passage of the bill giving to women the right to control their own earnings, and in- creased rights and control in the estate of the deceased husband. His amendment gave to the widow absolutely a one-half interest in all the property of her deceased hus- band. He secured also the passage of the liberal exemption law to debtors in 1871, and the insurance law which placed salutary and needed checks on the movements of insurance companies. His spceches referring to that measure, and also to his actions in favor of increasing the jurisdiction of the county courts, were eloquent, masterly, and convincing. He has always been a Republican, but has been frequently supported, not only by the members of the Democratic party, but also by its most faithful organs. Thus the Gil- man Star of January, 1872, remarks: " We often regret having opposed Mr. Frew, because after he got to Spring- field he was determined that his constituents should know what was going on." Later, the Ford County Journal, an opposition paper, said after the election : " Now they have the consolation of knowing that they have squandered their energies in playing tail to the kite sent up by Hon. C. H. Frew as a punishment. Such is the way. Lesser lights frequently get fooled by tilting against men of tact, shrewd- ness, and talent. He is the head and shoulders 1 of his party," etc. At a time when he was prominently named for the United States District Attorneyship for the Southern District of Illinois, the above journal said : " Frew is a man of fine legal attainments and a perfect gentleman, and has faithfully served his party. We hope they will recognize his eminent services." But he declined the can- didature, preferring, as he remarked, the people's appoint- ment. In July, 1873, he was, without his knowledge, put forward by the general press as one likely to be appointed one of the Railroad Commissioners, and was consulted on that subject. "We believe he is peculiarly fitted for the position," said the Record of January 9th, 1873; but he de- clined the honor firmly and positively. Prior to this he had been waited upon by a committee appointed to solicit his consent to be named as a candidate for Congress, and this
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also was mct by him with a courteous but inflexible refusal. | elected to the position of County Clerk of Knox county. In 1873, also, a committee of gentlemen from McLean With the exception of an interval of one term, he has con- tinued in that office, and has fulfilled all its responsible duties with integrity and ability, and to the fullest accept- ance of the people. When the county seat was removed to Galesburg his office was transferred to that place, whither he followed. Although he has filled no other political po- sitions, he has been an active partisan, and has obtained large influence as a leading citizen of that county, not simply by party zeal, but by his public spirit, which has made him an energetic worker in all movements, whether material or political, for the public weal. In 1847 he was married to Mary M. Brewer. county in the most urgent manner solicited him to be a can- didate for Judge of the Judicial District of McLean and Ford counties, and were met in the same manner. Again, in 1874, he was urged to be a candidate for Congress, and was assured of the support of the grangers. The Anti- Monopolist, of Bloomington, February 18th, said : " He is one of the rising men of the State, talented and full of sun- shine. It is no wonder that he is popular at home and has a reputation as extensive as the State." But he insisted that the then present member should by courtesy be rc- turned, and would not permit his name to be used against him. IIe was made Chairman of the Republican Congres- sional Convention, which met at Fairbury in the same year, and in his address of thanks spoke strongly in favor of the re-election of the sitting member of Congress. He is a firm believer in the value and efficacy of religion, and is a liberal supporter of churches and benevolent enterprises. Within the past ten years, by his remunerative legal practice, he has accumulated a large amount of valuable lands and lots and other city property, including several good improved farms, one of which is used solely for stock-raising purposes. He is still unmarried, and a self-made man who has the respect and affection of the entire community, and undoubt- edly is destined to be one of the distinguished citizens and statesmen of his State and country.
INTER, JOHN S., Journalist, Merchant, and County Clerk, was born August 9th, 1822, at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His father, John Win- ter, is a Baptist minister, who came from Brad- ford, England, in 1818, and settled in Pittsburgh, where he still resides. His mother was a native of New Castle, her maiden name having been Eliza Wilson. His education was obtained in the public schools of his native city, and at his home under the tuition of his father. When twenty-three years of age he travelled West, settling in Fulton county, Illinois, and establishing himself in the printing business, having acquired his qualifications for this pursuit in Wheeling, West Virginia. After the Mormon troubles, which for so long a time had excited Illinois, he went to Nauvoo, where he edited a paper for nearly a year. He then removed to Knox county, settling in Knoxville in 1849, where he commenced the publication of the Knoxville Journal. His management of this sheet covered a period of six years. It took a leading position as a representative paper, and obtained a high and popular reputation for its fearless opinions, literary merit, and enterprise. For a short time after his withdrawal from its management he engaged in mercantile pursuits. During the stirring cam- paign of 1856 he established the Knoxville Republican, a live and newsy paper which is still issued, and in 1857 was
REEN, WILLIS DUFF, M. D., was born in Dan- ville, Kentucky, January 18th, 1821. His father, Dr. Duff Green, an eminent physician of that place, was the eldest son of Willis Green, who emigrated to Kentucky from the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia about the year 1780. He is a brother of Judge W. H. Green, of Cairo, Illinois. He was educated primarily at Centre College, in his native town, and was a classmate of General John C. Breckenridge. Upon relinquishing college life he began the study of medi- cine with his father, remaining under his preceptorship for a period of two ycars. He then, at the expiration of this time, attended the Medical Department of the Transyl- vania University, and graduated from the Medical College of Ohio. He then began the practice of his profession at Hartford, Kentucky, where he resided for a year and a half. He afterward practised for two years in Pulaski, Tennessee, removing subsequently, in 1846, to Mount Vernon, Illinois, which has since been his home, and where he has been constantly and successfully occupied in the practice of his profession, which extends over the entire southern portion of the State. In politics he has invariably and consistently supported the principles and platforms of the Democratic party, and as the Breckenridge candidate for Congress was defeated with the head of the ticket. He is a prominent member of the order of Odd Fellows of Illi- nois, and has officiated as Grand Master, also as Represent- ative to the Grand Lodge of the United States. He is noted for his generosity in charitable enterprises, and has always been an active and a zealous member of benevolent societies and organizations. He was President of the Mount Vernon Railroad Company until it was merged in the St. Louis & Southeastern Railroad, and in the perform- ance of the important functions attendant on that office evinced the possession of admirable administrative powers. He is a man of scholarly attainments, a skilful and reliable physician, and a useful member of the community amid which he is an estcemed and loved townsman. He was mar- ried in 1844 to Corinne L. Morton, of Hartford, Kentucky.
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ARRIS, BENJAMIN F., Bank President, was born in Frederick county, Virginia, being the son of William H. and Elizabeth (Payne) Harris. His early education was limited. His father was a farmer, and he was engaged constantly in as- sisting in the laborious work of cultivating quite a large tract of land. During the winters he attended poorly supplied country schools, and from these picked up the rudiments of an education. In the summer of 1835 he re- moved to Illinois. In 1841 he located in Champaign county of that State, and engaged in farming, and is still indirectly connected with the development of a rich tract of land. His industry in agricultural pursuits netted him considerable means, which he invested profitably. In 1863 he became one of the organizers of the First National Bank of Cham- paign County, and in the following year was chosen its President. This responsible station he still fills, bringing to the execution of its duties a ripe judgment, and an intimate knowledge of the intricacies of financiering. He has been throughout his life a hard-working, temperate and econom- ical man, and has acquired not only a fortune but the high respect of the community in which he has resided for so long a time. In 1841 he married Elizabeth Sage, of Ohio, who died in 1845. In 1847 he married Mary J. Heath, of Ross county, Ohio.
his profession. In 1862 he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention, and served prominently and ably with that body until its dissolution. He was while thus en- gaged Chairman of the Committee of Revision and Adjust- ment, and while officiating in this capacity elicited the praise and encomiums of all concerned, and was especially com- plimented for the masterly manner in which bills were re- vised and adjusted, and redeemed from bareness by tlie elegant language in which they were expressed. In 1873 he was elected Judge of the Twenty-fourth Judicial Dis- trict, which position he still retains, performing its functions with capability and dignity. He has always been associated with the Democratic party, and is one of its most esteemcd supporters. His skill and judgment as a legal practitioner, and as an expounder and definer of the law, is unimpeach- able ; he enjoys the confidence and respect of the entire bar, and has been highly commended for the fairness and sound- ness of his decisions. He was married, May 22d, 1851, to Sarah E. Anderson, daughter of the late Governor Ander- son, of Illinois.
ANNER, TAZEWELL B., Lawyer, Judge of the Twenty-fourth Judicial District of Illinois, was born in Danville, Virginia, November 6th, 1821. His father, Allen C. Tanner, a merchant, and connected with many of the best families of Vir- ginia, emigrated to Missouri in, 1824, and there engaged in frontier trading. ITis mother, Martha Bates, was of a highly respectable family. His education was ac- quired at the McKendree College, located at Lebanon, Illinois, although his home was in St. Louis. After leaving college he engaged in school teaching, and continued at that avocation during the ensuing four years. He then went to California in search of gold, remaining on the Pacific slope for one year. Upon his return to Illinois he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Jefferson County, serv- ing two years, at the expiration of which time he resigned his position. He was subsequently elected to the lower House of the Illinois Legislature, and in the following year conducted the Jeffersonian newspaper, a journal intended to educate the people upon the question as to the propriety of donating swamp lands to aid in the construction of a railway, a mission which it ultimately accomplished. In the meantime he studied law with the Hon. William H. Bissell, and later under the supervision of Judge Scates. While conducting the Jeffersonian he was occupied also in practising law, meeting with much success. At the end of fifteen months he sold out his interest in the newspaper, and devoted himself exclusively to the increasing calls of he returned to the peaceful avocations of civil life. Among
UNLAP, COLONEL JAMES, Merchant, Rail- road Constructor, Farmer and Real-Estate Oper- ator, was born, October 30th, 1802, in Fleming county, Kentucky, and is a son of the late Rev. James Dunlap. The latter was a native of Augusta county, Virginia, who was born July Ioth, 1773, and removed to Kentucky when eleven years of age, where he lived for many years, subsequently going to Champaign county, Ohio, in 1812; ultimately to Jack- sonville, Illinois, in 1844, where he passed the remainder of his life, and died February 28th, 1866, in the ninety-third year of his age. His father was a soldier of the Revolution, serving throughout that conflict to the date of Cornwallis' surrender in October, 1781. Mrs. Rebecca Dunlap, mother of Rev. James Dunlap, lived to the great age of ninety-nine years, and died near Lexington, Kentucky, November 7th, 1849. Colonel Jamies Dunlap removed from Ohio and settled in Morgan county, Illinois, in July, 1830. He then entered into business as a country merchant in Jacksonville, and devoted liis energies to this business until 1838, when, in company with Thomas T. January, he contracted to build the first railroad in the State, which was to connect the city of Springfield with Meridosia, on the Illinois river, a dis- tance of fifty-six miles. The firm of January & Dunlap completed this line, ready for the rolling stock, in 1845. He was a large operator and dealer in real estate; and was also a prominent farmer and stock dealer until 1860. At the outbreak of the great Rebellion he resolved to embark in the cause of the Union, and exert his business talents in that direction. He was commissioned by President Lincoln as Chief Quartermaster of the 13th Army Corps, and gave his entire attention to this important trust until 1864, when
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the many achievements of an active life of over forty years and varied store of learning winning for him the favorable was the erection in 1856 of the " Dunlap House," which attention of all with whom he was brought into contact, he was elected to the Professorship of the Greek and German Languages and Literatures in the same institution, which position he still holds. In September, 1870, he was ad- mitted to deacon's orders in the Methodist Episcopal Church, of which he is an earnest and a valued member. He is for the current year a member of the State Board of Examiners for State Teachers' Certificates, in which body he is esteemed and admired as a colleague of sterling capa- bilities and unerring judgment. He is a classical scholar of brilliant attainments, and is unexcelled in his acquaintance with the literature of ancient Greece and modern Germany. He was married, June 26th, 1873, to Carrie V. Hyper, of Lebanon, Illinois. appropriately bears the name of its founder. This is one of the best and most capacious hotels in central Illinois, and is an ornament to the city, being a most inviting and home- like hostelrie for boarders and travellers. IIe has never solicited or courted any political notoriety, though he was elected a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1847, which had for its object the amendment of the State consti- tution. Ile is one of the substantial and useful citizens of Morgan county, who has a most extensive acquaintance, and whose character is duly appreciated by the community where he has passed nearly a half century of active life. Although he has passed the age of three-score years and ten he has preserved his mental and bodily faculties to a good degree, and is healthy and robust in appearance. Ile was married, November 19th, 1823, to Elizabeth Fruman, in Greene county, Ohio. She is a woman of amiable and sterling qualities, which render her loved and respected by a large circle of friends and acquaintances. Both the Colonel and his wife have been members of the Baptist denomination for over twenty-eight years. They had a family of eleven children, of whom seven are living.
WAHLEN, WILLIAM FLETCHER, Professor of the Greek and German Languages and Liter- atures in McKendree College, Lebanon, Illinois, was born in Whecling, Ohio county, Virginia, April 19th, 1840. His father, John Swahlen, a native of Switzerland, was one of the more prom- inent and influential pioneers and zealous upholders of the German Methodist Episcopal Church. He left his native | bar. He subsequently entered upon the active practice of country and came to the United States in 1832, settling in Cincinnati, Ohio. His initiatory field of labor was Wheel- ing, Virginia, where he built the first German Methodist Episcopal Church ever crected. Subsequently he travelled in Ohio, Indiana, Missouri, New York, New Jersey, Penn- sylvania and Maryland, leaving everywhere traces of his zeal and Christianly virtues. His mother, Ann (Taylor) Swahlen, was the daughter of John Gibbons, one of the early Quaker pioneers and settlers of Pennsylvania. His preliminary and elementary education was acquired at the Light Street Institute, located in Baltimore, Maryland, where he was prepared for college, and also in the Gram- mar School of Columbia College, New York city. In Scp- tember, 1858, he entered the freshman class of the Troy University, N w York, and in S ptember, 1860, the sopho- more class of the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he remained until he graduated in July, 1863. In the course of the same year he was elected to an adjunct professorship in McKendree College, Lebanon, Il- linois, and entered at once upon the performance of the dutics attached to that office. In 1867, his unusual talents
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