The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 78

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

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year. He then removed to Kewanee, where he has since been constantly engaged in attending to the duties con- nected with an extensive and lucrative business, his prac- tice embracing not only the county in which he resides, but also the adjoining sections of the State. In 1864 he was elected District Attorney for the Fifth Judicial District, an office to which, after serving a period of four years, he de- clined a renomination-a step taken on account of increas- ing ill health. In 1868 he was appointed by President Johnson Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of Utah Terri- tory, and during his term of two years performed the func- tions of that office with admirable ability and integrity. In the fall of 1870 he returned to his home at Kewanec, Illinois. The law firm of Wilson & Ladd practise in all the Circuit Courts, in the Supreme Court, and in the United States District Courts. In politics he has acted consistently with the Republican party since the date of its organiza- tion. He was married in 1850 to Maria N. Benham, and has seven children, four boys and three girls.

his profession there when the war broke out, and he tele- graphed to Governor Yates, offering him a regiment, to be called the Yates Phalanx. The reply came and the regi- ment was filled. There was some delay in the acceptance of it, however, and he tendered it direct to the Secretary of War, and it was accepted the day after the Bull Run disas-

ter, as an independent regiment. He was elected its Lieutenant-Colonel, having declined the Colonelcy, but was ILSON, CHARLES C., Lawyer and cx-Chief- Justice of the Supreme Court of Utali Territory, was born in North Wrentham, Norfolk county, Massachusetts, September 18th, 1828. His father, Enoch Wilson, was a farmer, and a descendant of the carly Puritans of New England, His mother, Abigail (Richardson) Wilson, was from Maine. His preliminary education was obtained in the public schools of his native State. In 1850 he came to the West, remaining for a season in Peoria, Illinois. In 1853 he promoted to that position in 1861. At Winchester, under General Lander, he aided very materially in gaining the only victory ever gained over Stonewall Jackson. He par- ticipated in all the work done in the Shenandoah Vallcy, and in much of that done elsewhere by General Mcclellan. In January, 1863, he was placed in command of the First Brigade of Terry's Division, and ordered to Hilton Head, ,and participated in the siege of Morris Island and in the capture of Forts Wagner and Sumter. At Hilton Head, after the fail of these forts, his regiment-the 39th-deter- commenced the study of law with G. A. Clifford, at Toulon, mined to re-enlist for veteran service, and was the first Stark county, and in 1859, at the termination of his course regiment in the Department of the South to do so. He went with his regiment, in May, with Gencral Butler's ex- pedition, up James river, and at Drury's Bluff had his right of preparatory studies, was admitted to the bar of the Su- preme Court, at Springfield, Illinois. Establishing his office in Bureau county, he entered at once upon the prac- ! arm shattered so badly as to disable it for life; but for two

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hours he remained in the saddle with the mangled arm | and had charge of the music in the Mercer Street Church. hanging beside him. IIe suffered intensely from this wound, and on leaving the hospital was sent home to recu- perate. He employed his leave of absence in making speeches on the stump in the Presidential campaign of 1864. While yet unable to mount his horse without assist- ance, and with his arm in a sling, he reported for duty in front of Richmond, and was placed in command of the First Brigade, First Division, Twenty-fourth Army Corps, having been brevetted a Brigadier-General for his gallantry at Drury's Bluff. On the 2d of April, 1865, he led the charge at Fort Gregg, the key to Petersburg and Richmond. For his bravery on this occasion he was made a full Briga- dier-General, and the Secretary of War presented to the Yates Phalanx a magnificent brazen eagle. In the final conflict before Richmond he and the forces under him ren- dered services of the utmost importance, and he had three horses killed under him. For his conduct there he was made Major-General by brevet. In October he resigned and returned to Chicago. He was subsequently appointed Postmaster of Chicago by President Johnson, but would not accept the terms of the President, and so did not get his commission. He then resumed the practice of his profes- sion, in which he made rapid advances.

OOT, GEORGE FREDERICK, Musical Com- poser, was born in Sheffield, Berkshire county, Massachusetts, in August, 1820. When he was six years old his father moved to North Reading, Massachusetts, near Boston, where for twelve years the lad studied, worked, and developed his talent for music. This talent showed itself when he was very young, and at twelve years he could play on several musical instruments. When he was seventeen years old his father went to South America, and George, bcing the oldest of the eight children, was left in charge of the family. He soon went to Boston, with a view to securing a position in the orchestra of one of the theatres, but this idea he abandoned by the advice of A. N. Johnson, then one of the leading organists of Boston, who offered him a good situa- tion in his music rooms, which he accepted. Here he made rapid progress, both in business and in music, and was soon able to assist his employer in giving lessons on the piano and organ. In a few months he began to play the organ in one of the churches, and then to take lessons in vocal music. In less than a year he was admitted as partner of his employer, and this partnership continued for five years. In 1844, through the influence of Jacob Abbott, the celebrated author, he removed to New York and com- menced teaching in the young ladies' school kept by the Abbott brothers, and was soon joined by his brother Towner, who had hitherto been in South America with his father. They taught together in several institutions there,

About this time George married and went to Europe, where he spent a year in the close study of music. On his return from Europe he published his first musical composition, the popular song " Hazel Dell." The piece was immensely successful, and Messrs. Hall & Son, the publishers of it, foreseeing his great success as a composer, secured him to write songs exclusively for them for a term of three years. The popular cantata, " The Flower Queen," soon followed, and other works, including several produced jointly with Lowell Mason and William B. Bradbury, came in rapid succession. In 1852 he projected his plan for a musical teachers' institute, to be held annually, and the next year the first session of the institute was held in Dodworth Hall, New York. In this enterprise he was joined by many dis- tinguished musical instructors, and from it grew the famous North Reading Institute. In 1855 he gave up teaching and devoted himself exclusively to musical composition, and in 1860 he settled in Chicago as a member of the widely-known firm of Root & Cady, music publishers and dealers. His compositions have been very numerous, and their popularity has been boundless, many of them being extensively sung in Europe as well as in this country, and some of them being known absolutely everywhere. Among the best known of his compositions are " Hazel Dell; " " Rosalie, the Prairie Flower; " " The Vacant Chair; " " The Shining Shore ;" "The Battle Cry of Freedom ; " " Tramp, Tramp;" " Just Before the Battle;" " Just After the Battle; " " There's Music in the Air; " " Old Folks are Gone;" " Mary of the Glen ; " " Reaper of the Plain ; " " Never Forget the Dear Ones; " " Brother, Tell Me of the Battle; " " Day of Liberty's Coming;" " Lay Me Down and Save the Flag ; " " Stand Up for Uncle Sam ; " " Who'll Save the Left?" and "Columbia's Call." Among his larger works are "The Academy Vocalist ; " " Sabbath Bell;" "Festival Glee Book;" "Young Men's Singing Book ;" " Musical Album; " " The Diapason ; " " Silver Lute ; " "Silver Chimes ; " " Buglc Call ;" "Forest Choir;" and the cantatas " The Flower Queen ;" " Daniel; " " The Pilgrim Fathers ;" " The Haymakers ;" and " Belshazzar's Feast."

EARMAN, JOHN T., M. D., was born in Hardin county, Kentucky, in 1829. He is the son of John Pearman and Sarah (Lyons) Pearman. He was educated in the schools located in the neigh- borhood of his home. In 1851 he commenced the study of medicine under the instructions of Dr. Thomas Smith, in Edgar county, Illinois, and in 1853 matriculated at the Rush Medical College. He graduated in 1858. He commenced the practice of his profession, however, in the spring of 1854, at Elbridge, Edgar county, Illinois, where he remained until 1863. He also attended, in 1860, a course at the Ohio Medical College. In 1863

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he established himself in Champaign. During the progress of the civil war he was in service for about four months as Surgeon of the 15th Regiment of Indiana Infantry, stationed at Nashville. IIe is a member of the American Medical Association, and a member also of the Illinois State Medi- cal Association, of which he is a leading and influential spirit. Ile has at times contributed to the literature of the profession. He was married in 1855 to Elizabeth Elliott, of Edgar county, Illinois.

MITH, CHARLES G., Wholesale Drug Merchant, was born in Nelson, Madison county, New York, July 23d, 1831. His father, George Smith, was a native of Orange county, New York, and his mother, a daughter of Judge Lyon, of Nelson, one of the earliest settlers in the township. When he was five years old his father died, and his mother sold the farm they had cultivated, and removed to Caze- novia, which offered better facilities for the education of her children. Here the family remained a year, and then went to Ruthford, Allegheny county, in the western part of the State. Here the greater portion of Mr. Smith's early life was spent, and here by constant application he laid the foundation of a substantial and practical education. ITis oldest brother, who had gone to Chicago in 1849, procured for him a clerkship in the drug store of L. M. Boyce, but before his arrival Mr. Boyce died, and the establishment was bought out by Sears & Bay. In October, 1849, he entered upon his apprenticeship to the drug business, under Messrs. Sears & Bay, and very soon acquired a thorough knowledge of its details, and gained the confidence and the esteem of his employers by his fidelity. Upon the retire- ment of Mr. Bay, in 1852, he became head clerk, and on January Ist, 1854, became a partner in the concern, assum- ing the place vacated by Mr. Bay. The firm, known as . that of Sears & Smith, occupied the old stand at No. 113 Lake street. The results of the first year of this partner- ship were most encouraging. The business doubled, with a prospect of still greater enlargement. In 1855 Mr. Edwin Burnham was admitted to the partnership, and the new firm of Sears, Smith & Co. continued for two years, when Mr. Sears retired and the business was managed by the remaining partners, who removed to 23 Lake street, and continued in this location for three years. A second removal, made necessary by the demands of the growing trade, was then effected to No. 16 Lake street, which they occupied until March, 1864. The firm was then dissolved, and Mr. Smith established himself in the same line at No. 259 South Water street, pending the erection of the splen- did drug house now occupied by him, for the construction of which he had contracted with Hon. J. Y. Scammon. On January Ist, 1866, Messrs. C. Henry Cutler and Henry T. West became his business associates, and the establishment,

whose transactions aggregate in value a vast amount an- nually, is conducted under the firm-name of Smith, Cutler & Co. Its trade ramifications cover more than fifteen States, and are constantly extending. Mr. Smith is a mer- chant of rare taet and ability, and has a character which is beyond reproach. He was married January 7th, 1855, to Annie E. Cooper, of Peoria, who died January 17th, 1861, leaving two daughters. On August 16th, 1866, he married Eliza L. White, of Cincinnati. Shortly after his arrival in Chicago he became a member of the Baptist Church, but within a short time withdrew from it. In 1853 he became a member of the Church of the New Jerusalem, with which he has since worshipped. He is a man of strong opinions, but of most affable manners, and stands in high estimation with the community.

OOLBAUGH, WILLIAM F., Bank President, is a native of Pike county, Pennsylvania, having been born there July Ist, 1821. His father was a farmer, and his educational advantages were but limited. When fifteen years old he went to Philadelphia in pursuit of that fortune which all boys confidently expect, and became assistant porter in a wholesale dry-goods house. Soon afterwards the firm sent him to the far West and Southwest, and kept him there un- til he became of age, when he went into business for him- self. IIe settled in Burlington, Iowa, in 1842, and for eight years was a merchant in that city. In 1850 he retired from the mercantile business and became a banker, helping to organize the banking-house of Coolbaugh & Brooks. Ile also became a politician, and was appointed Loan Agent by the first General Assembly of Iowa, and negotiated the first loan ever made by lowa, and caused the issue of its first bonds. He was a 'Democrat of the Douglas school, and at the Baltimore Convention, in 1852, voted forty-nine times for Stephen A. Douglas. He was for eight years a member of the Iowa State Senate, and made a narrow escape from being sent to the Senate of the United States. In 1856 he was a member of the Democratic National Convention at Cincinnati, and voted for Buchanan and Breckenridge, an act which he considers one of the gravest mistakes of his life. When the rebellion broke out, like so many other Democrats, he at once gave Mr. Lincoln and the govern- ment hearty support. In the spring of 1862 he removed to Chicago and established the banking-house of Coolbaugh & Co. In February, 1865, this banking-house became the Union National Bank of Chicago, with him as its Presi- dent. When the Chicago Clearing House was organized he was chosen President of that also, and likewise of the National Bankers' Association for the West and Southwest. He has been twice married. In the year 1844 he married a daughter of Judge Brown, of Kentucky; and in 1864 he married the daughter of C. F. V. Reeve, of Newburgh, New York.

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ANCOCK, JOHN L., Packer, was born in Buxton, ! command, and while he was in charge three new regiments Maine, March 16th, 1812. He lived there until and several additional companies, to fill up regiments in the field, were organized. And yet, with all these extra labors on his mind and on his hands, he never relinquished the closest attention to his own business, for he is one of those rare men who can despatch business, who can compress a day's work into a couple of hours, and whose resting spell is only a change of work. he was fourteen years old, and then removed to Hiram, in the same State, where he remained for several years. In 1833 he removed to Westbrook, Maine, whicre he engaged in the business of beef packing, and carried it on with great success. Here he re- mained until 1854, when he entered into a partnership with Cragin & Co., of New York, and immediately went to Chicago as Western member of the firm. He arrived in Chicago in May, 1854, and at once began the crection of a packing house on a scale so large as to astonish everybody. OODWORTH, JAMES HI., Bank President, was born on December 4th, 1804, in the town of Greenwich, Washington county, New York, to which place his parents, Ebenezer and Catherine Woodworth, had removed from Connecticut. His father died when James was very young, and the farm was left to the management of the mother and an elder brother. James resided at home and worked on the farm until he was nineteen years old, when the family removed to the Indian Reservation, in Onondaga county, and his next two years were given to helping clear the timber off the new farm. When he was twenty-one he gave up farm- ing and went to school teaching for the winter term. Then he entered the office of one of his brothers, who was a prac- tising physician, and studied there a year. At the end of that time he gave up the idea of being a physician, and the other idea of being a school teacher, and engaged with another brother in mercantile business on a small scale. In the spring of 1827 he removed with his brother to Spring- field, Erie county, Pennsylvania, and there they carried on business for six years. During four of these years James held the office of Justice of the Peace. In the summer of 1833 he went to Chicago, then a place of five hundred inhabitants, and there carried on the dry-goods business until 1840. In the autumn of 1839 he was elected to the State Scnate, and in the latter part of 1840 he was involved, by the burning of a flouring mill, which he owned in La Salle county, in a loss of $25,000. In 1842 he was elected to the Legislature to represent La Salle, Grundy, and Ken- dall counties, he being then a resident of La Salle county. In the same year he married Miss Boothe, of Onondaga county, New York. He purchased the hydraulic flouring mill, to which were attached the pumps and reservoirs of the Chicago Hydraulic Company, and for ten years was busy supplying the city with both flour and water. During this time he served three years in the Common Council of the city, and was twice elected Mayor. In 1853 he was appointed a member of the Water Commissioners, and served two years. In 1854 he was nominated for Congress, and was elected, taking his seat in December, 1855. He participated in the famous nine weeks' contest for Speaker, which resulted in the election of N. P. Banks. During his term of service, lie, in connection with Stephen A. Douglas, succeeded in.getting an appropriation for the erection of the People could not understand where the business for such a house was to come from. The house cost $32,000, and its subsequent enlargements and elaborate appliances brought the cost fully up to $75,000. Its builder soon bccame known as a very heavy operator. IIe became an active member of the Board of Trade, and largely through his in- fluence the body, which had heretofore been but a weakly one, became vigorous, strong, and active. He was elected sccond Vice-President, then first Vice-President, and in 1863 was elected President of the Board. A year after- wards the very unusual compliment of a second election to the position was paid him. All this time he was closely attending to his business. During his first year in Chicago the business of his firm there amounted to $300,000. Sub- sequently the business increased very rapidly and reached a good way into the millions, and the firm he represented be- eame noted in Europe as well as through all the United States. In 1864 the Board of Trade found itself obliged to enlarge its quarters, and John L. Hancock was one of the most active in helping forward the movement which resulted in the erection of the magnificent Chamber of Commerce in Chicago. He was also one of the leading spirits in the institution of the central stock-yard system, in place of the scattered yards around which it was necessary to travel daily in order to do business. He became also a prominent member of the Packers' Association, and was one of the criginally elected Directors of the Packers' Insurance Com- pany. No sketch of the man could be complete which did not make mention of his noble and unwearied services during the war. Everywhere the Chicago Board of Trade beeame renowned for the work it did in those time :. It raised and sent into the field, at its own expense, a battery of artillery, and then three full regiments ; it lost no oppor- tunity to care for the soldiers in the field, and time after time contributed thousands of dollars to meet the necessities of the " Illinois Boys," besides contributing largely toward taking care of all the soldiers who came to Chicago, and foremost in all this work was John L. Hancock, who labored unceasingly, and in every way, to forward every effort in these directions. He gave money, he gave time, and he gave personal effort, and all without stint. In 1865 he was ordered to take charge of Camp Fry, then designated as the place for organizing new regiments. IIe took the

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Chicago Custom House and Post Office building. After | and commenced to acquire the trade of a joiner and carpen- leaving Congress he devoted himself mainly to looking after his private business, and performing his duties as President of the Treasury Bank. He was very active in support of the war, and rendered good service to the Chicago University as its Treasurer and one of its Trustees, as well as being active and prominent in all public enterprises of his city. He died several years since.

REEN, EDWARD BELL, Attorney-at-Law, was born in Blair county, Pennsylvania, on December 29th, 1837. He is the son and youngest child of Thomas and Martha Green. His father was born in Fairfax county, Virginia, and was a sol- dicr in the war of 1812; he was of English ex- traction. His mother was a native of Pennsylvania and of Scotch-Irish extraction. His father's ancestors were among the first settlers of Virginia. His father, Thomas Green, died in February, 1875, aged 104. His mother is still living at nearly the age of eighty seven. He himself was educated at the Rimersburg and Leatherwood Academies, in northwestern Pennsylvania, and received a thorough classical and scientific education. When eighteen years old he was elected Principal of West Freedom Academy, where he taught the languages one year. He moved to Illinois in November, 1858, studied law in Paris, Edgar county, Illi- nois, and was admitted to the bar in June, 1860. Since that time he has been engaged in the pursuit of his pro- fession at Mount Carmel, and at other points in southern Illinois. His practice has been confined to the Circuit and Supreme Courts of the State, and the Circuit and District Courts of the United States. As a lawyer Mr. Grcen ranks among the ablest members of the bar of the State. IIis reputation, which is well earned, arises from his ability, hard and persistent application to his profession. He has eschewed politics, and has frequently declined nominations for office. Taking a warm interest in the development of the State, he has been connected with the Air Line Railroad Company as a Director, and was the attorney for the com- pany for two years. Ile is one of the Trustees of McKen- dree College. He was married, November 23d, 1861, to Emma L. Lutes, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

OYINGTON, WILLIAM W., Architect, was born, July 22d, 1818, in Southwick, Hampden county, Massachusetts, being the son of Juba and Aurelia (Campbell) Boyington, who were the children of the earliest settlers in that town. His early education was conducted in the com- mon and academic schools of that section, and when sixteen years of age the family removed to Springfield, in the same county. In this year, 1834, he joined the Baptist Church,

ter under his father. When cighteen he worked as a journeyman and commanded full wages. He devoted his working hours to the mastery of all the details of his voca- tion, and his leisure time to the study of the science of architecture, little thinking that he was eventually to become one of its finest exponents. This application in study rapidly matured his talents, and when twenty he was cm- ployed as forcman by Charles Stearns, who carried on a large lumber yard, and was largely engaged in building operations. In this capacity he found many opportunities for exercising his skill as an architect, and thoroughly acquainted himself with the gradcs and merits of various materials used in the construction of buildings of all classes. When twenty-three he set out as a builder on his own account, soon fulfilled the terms of a number of large con- tracts, and secured the reputation of a reliable architect. He was now often called upon-and this signalized a new departure in his career-to furnish designs for other builders. After three years of good fortunc, which was in truth the success of substantial l usiness qualifications, his shop, with all its contents, was burned. He met with an almost total loss, but this disaster did not dampen his energy. Within. a year he had reared a new establishment, and his business within the next twelvemonth so materially increased that it compelled his removal to a better site, where he added to his shop a steam engine, planing mill, and door and sash making machines. This new concern became a partnership enterprise under the firm-name of Decrete, Boyington & Co., and daily extended its business transactions. Mr. Boyington superviscd the architectural department. The establishment enjoyed five years of uninterrupted prosperity, and was then wiped out of existence for a time, by a fire which destroyed one of the largest lumber stocks in that section. The shops were scon rebuilt by the firm, but Mr. Boyington shortly thereafter sold out his interest and devcted his attention exclusively to architecture. At this time he was elected to the State Legislature, and was appointed Chairman of the Committee on Public Buildings. Early in 1853 he made an experimental trip to Chicago, which was then rising to position as a metropolis, and was so pleased with the prospect of lucrative employment that he wound up his business in Massachusetts during the ensuing sum- mer, and in November of that year permanently settled in that city. Here he was first engaged by Charles Walker to make a ground plan of the Central Union Depot adapted to the site for which the railroad company was then negotiating, and from that time to this he has been prominently identified with the material growth of Chicago. He found upon his arrival ample scope for the display of his architectural genius, and soon achieved a reputation second to that of no other architect in the country. Among the churches in that city which he designed are St. Paul's Universalist, First Presbyterian, Wabash Avenue Methodist, North Presby .. terian, and Centenary Methodist, whose congregations are

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 78

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