The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 90

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

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to a sudden and unforeseen change of circumstances, tire- | linois, where he resumed his practice, which he here kept less in following up a case, and omitting no details, he is unexcelled in his peculiar line, and well deserves the suc- cess which has attended his efforts.

WENGEL, D. FRANK, D. D. S., was born March 24th, 1837, near the town of Middleburg, Snyder county, then known as Union county, Pennsyl- vania. His father, who is still a resident of Middleburg, has always followed agricultural pursuits, and is a prominent and active church- man, enjoying the respect of the community in which he resides. His mother's maiden name was Sarah Miller, and she was a resident of the same county. D. Frank passed his boyhood on his father's farm, attending during the winter months the village school. Upon attaining his majority, he resolved upon a professional career, and soon after entered Dickinson Seminary, at Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the full course of four years. By unusual industry, incited by unflagging ambition, he finished the prescribed studies in three years, and graduated in 1861. Upon leaving this in- stitution he accepted the position of Principal of Berrysburg Seminary, at Berrysburg, Dauphin county, Pennsylvania, succeeding P. Bergstresser, who had entered the army. IIere he obtained distinction as an instructor in English literature and ancient languages. During the two years hc filled this position, he studied medicine under the direction of Dr. J. B. Beshler, and decided upon the medical profes- sion as the field of his future labors. To thoroughly prepare himself for his chosen vocation, he decided to enter Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, in 1863, and when about ready to enter college he was drafted into the Union army. His earnings, upon which he had relied to carry him through this period of student life, were absorbed in furnishing a substitute, and he was compelled to seek some compensating labor which did not require so many years of preparation. He thereupon entered the office of Dr. II. Gerhart, a lead- ing dentist at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. During his studies here he became a teacher in the Lewisburg University, filling that position very acceptably for some time. Having at length qualified himself for the duties of a practical dentist, he returned to his home, and practised successfully through- out the counties of Union and Snyder. In 1865 he located in Mifflinburg, and by strict attention to his business he soon acquired a very large and lucrative patronage. In the fall of 1869 he relinquished this field with the intention of making his home in the West. Prior to his migration, how- ever, he availed himself of the facilities of the Baltimore Dental College, the oldest institution of its kind in this country, and very materially, by attending lectures and by zealous study, increased his knowledge of the dental science. Receiving his diploma from this institution, he started for the West, and in the spring of 1870 settled in Freeport, II-

up for four years. In August, 1874, he removed to Chicago, finding there an ampler field for his professional labors. Here he published for a time a journal devoted to the inter- ests of the dental profession, under the name of the Dental Quarterly, and it had among its contributors the ablest prac- titioners of the dental science. Dr. Swengel occupies now a leading position as a dentist in Chicago, which he has achieved through conscientious and skilful labor. He is a man of fine culture and pleasing social qualities.

NIGHT, STEPHEN SIMMONS, was born in Wabash, Illinois, April 26th, 1828. His father, a native of Virginia, moved to Kentucky in 1794, and from there removed in ISIo to Portsmouth, Scioto county, Ohio. In the following year he married a daughter of Colonel Simmons, who built the first ship constructed west of the Allegheny moun- tains. In ISI8 he removed to Illinois, where he afterwards permanently resided. Stephen was educated at Lancaster, Wabash county, Illinois. At the completion of his allotted course of studies, he engaged in school-teaching, and later, in farming and agricultural pursuits, at which he continued until 1855. He then moved to Mt. Carmel, engaging there in merchandising and school-teaching until 1860, when he interested himself in saw-milling, an enterprise to which he devoted his attention until the mill was destroyed by fire. HIe then again engaged in farming, and in 1875 constructed the fine hotel building, the most striking ornament of the city. He is one of the most enterprising citizens of Mt. Carmel, and is highly respected by the community amid which he resides. He was married March 28th, 1848, to Harriet C. Blood, a native of Vermont, but a resident of Wabash county, Illinois.

RIGHT, JAMES S., Merchant, Operator in Real Estate, was born in Highland county, Ohio, Au- gust 4th, 1816. His parents were John B. Wright, a farmer and agriculturist, and formerly a member of the Indiana Legislature, and Elizabeth (Ste- phens) Wright. He was educated at the common log school houses located in the vicinity of his home. While a young man he was engaged in surveying, and later in shipping from Perryville, on the Wabash river, to New Orleans, Louisiana. IIe subsequently moved to IIomer, Champaign county, and was there employed in mercantile pursuits until 1855. In 1846 he was sent to the Legislature on the Whig ticket, and in 1855 settled in Champaign, where he became engaged principally in real estate trans- actions and farming. In 1862-63 he officiated as Mayor of Champaign, performing the functions of that office with in- disputable ability and integrity. For more than thirty years

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he has been intimately identified with the prosperity and development of this section of Illinois, and possesses the esteem of the entire community. He was married in 1840 to Catherine Lander, from Bourbon county, Kentucky.

RIGHT, PAUL R., Lawyer, was born in Oneida county, New York, in May, 1819. His parents, John Wright and Miriam (Raymond) Wright, were natives of New England. He attended the public schools located in the vicinity of his home, and attended subsequently also the St. Lawrence Academy, New York. On leaving school, at the age of eighteen, he moved to Illinois, where his parents had made their home, and engaged in teaching school, an avocation which he pursucd during the succeeding period of nearly five years. While thus employed he commenced the study of law, to which he applied himself diligently in his leisure hours, and in 1844 entered the office of E. E. Harvey, of Elgin. After studying under the directions of that practi- tioner for a period of one year, he was admitted to the bar, and established his office in the same city, where he was professionally occupied until 1856. He then removed to Geneva, having been elected Circuit Clerk, on the Fremont ticket, for Kane county, and filled this office for four years. At the expiration of his term he again resumed the practice of his profession, with which he was busied until the fall of 1862, when he purchased a farm in Union county, and gave his entire time and attention to its cultivation. Twelve years were spent in this manner, and in IS74 he moved to Jonesboro', again engaging in professional labor, while still retaining an interest, however, in the management of his farm. He has always been a supporter of the Republican party. Ile was married in 1846 to Emily Harvey, of Elgin.

IGH, JAMES L., Lawyer, was born in Belleville, Ohio, October 6th, 1844. He graduated at the University of Wisconsin, in Madison, with the class of 1864. In 1867 he removed to Chicago, and there began the practice of law, having pre- viously graduated also from the Michigan Univer- sity Law School. During the war of the Rebellion he served one year as Adjutant of the 49th Regiment of Wisconsin Infantry. IIe is the author of a " Treatise on the Law of Injunctions as Administered in the Courts of England and America ;" also of a "Treatise on Extraordinary Legal Remedies, Mandamus, Quo-warrants and Prohibitions." In IS70 he published a revised edition of Lord Erskine's works, including all his legal arguments, together with a memoir of his life. He spent the winter of 1871-72 in Salt Lake City, and in the absence of the United States District Attor-

ney, conducted the celebrated Mountain Meadow Massacre (Mormon) trials. Ile was engaged also as a correspondent of the New York Times, and his letters to that journal were widely copied. Ilis treatise on the law of injunctions and extraordinary legal remedies is to be found in almost every law office, in the East as well as in the West. He is a practi- tioner of untiring industry and brilliant attainments, alrcady standing high in the profession, and possessing an extensive practice, particularly in chancery.

AY, JAMES EDWARDS, Lawyer, was born in, Westborough, Worcester county, Massachusetts, June 30th, 1830. Ilis father, James Fay, was engaged in farming in the same place. Ilis mo- ther, Jane (Bates) Fay, of Cohassett, Norfolk county, Massachusetts, was a sister of Joshua Bates, D. D., formerly President of the Middlebury College. Ilis preliminary education was obtained in the public schools of his native county. After passing the two succeeding years in a store, he was fitted for college at the Thetford Academy, Thetford Hill, Orange county, Vermont, where he remained until the end of his freshman year, then passed to the sopho- more class of Williams College, graduating from that insti- tution with high rank for scholarship in the class of 1856, in company with Hon. C. S. IIill, Assistant United States Attor- ney, General Garfield of Ohio, and others now eminent in the different avocations of life. After leaving college, he was for one year Principal of the Dickinson Academy, at Southwick, Massachusetts. In IS57 he removed to Minne- sota, and began the study of law with IIon. William Wcn- dom, since United States Senator from that State. In IS58 he returned to Massachusetts, and there completed his prep- arations for the bar under the guidance of the late Chief- Justice R. G. Chapman, of Massachusetts, and also at the law school of Harvard College. In 1859 he was admitted to the bar, and in the following year established his office in Chicago, where he entered on the practice of his pro- fession. In 1869 he became the middle member of the well-known law firm of Bonney, Fay & Griggs, which has remained substantially the same down to the present time. HIe is a general practitioner, but has given more especial attention to real estate law, and matters pertaining thereto, and, as a real estate and business lawyer, ranks high with the profession. He is a member of the Republican party, but eschews politics, having never held nor sought an office. He has secured a fair competency through his professional labors, and devotes the time not occupied by the duties of his business to the cause of religion and education. He is a prominent member of the Eighth Presbyterian Church, of which he has been an Elder and Superintendent of Sabbath-school for several years past. He was married in 1862 to Julia A. Bush, of Southwiek, Massachusetts, and has three children.

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IGGINS, VAN H., Lawyer, ex-Judge, was born in ' country, having obtained them principally from his own Gencsee county, New York, and is now about fifty-three years of age. He came to Chicago in 1839, and was admitted to the bar in Iroquois county. In 1845 he went to Galena, and there practised his profession with Judge Scott until 1853, when he removed to Chicago, where he has since permanently resided. In the fall of 1858 he was sent to the Legislature, and in the ensuing spring was elected Judge of the Superior Court. He served in this office until 1863, when he resigned and commenced the practice of law with Leonard Swett, his present partner. Before he became Judge of the Superior Court his practice was one of the most extensive and remunerative in the city. Since then he has given considerable attention to legal matters, but is not as active in his profession as he was before his accession to the bench, for the reason that he has very ex- tended and important interests of his own to attend to, which leave little or no time to devote to professional labors. He is also a fine theoretical and practical mechan- ician, while his judgment upon the merits of any new mechanical discovery is equal to that of the best practical mechanic in the West.

NTHONY, ELLIOTT, Lawyer, was born in Spaf- ford, Onondaga county, central New York, on June 10th, 1827, descending from sturdy New England stock. His father, Isaac Anthony, was born on the island of Rhode Island, eight miles from Newport, his mother being connected with the well-known Chase family, of which the late Chief- Justice Salmon P. Chase was so distinguished a member. The mother of Elliott, whose maiden name was Phelps, was a descendant of the earliest settlers of that name in Martha's Vineyard, who, subsequently to their location on that island, occupied portions of Connecticut and Massachusetts, and eventually took up their abode in the Green Mountains of Vermont and through the eastern section of New York State. All of his male ancestors were conspicuous in the war of the Revolution, and a number of their descendants were foremost in the famous Dorr war. While the Anthony family were legitimately Quakers, they held strongly and faithfully to the principle of independence, revolting against all forms of oppression. It was Burrington Anthony who was prominently associated with Dorr in the Rhode Island rebellion, and who suffered martyrdom with him. The family of Elliott's grandfather were residents of Rhode Island when the Hessians held it and the surrounding country under the exactions of English tyranny, and among his earliest recollections are the wonderful tales of adven- ture, of bravery, of daring, related by veterans of the war of the Revolution. His father, Isaae, was an able historian, thoroughly familiar with the facts concerning all the Indian wars and the uprising of the colonies against the mother

father and grandfather, who were actively and honorably engaged in the military operations which have rendered the early history of this country memorable. Shortly after the close of the Revolution word reached the settlers of the New England States of the prolific resources of the West, and a very general migration set in from the seaboard to the attractive country which lay in the region of the western lakes. Elliott's grandfather, accompanied by his family, felt the contagion, and moved from Rhode Island to Wash- ington county, New York, where they settled. Here Isaac, one of the sons, was married to Pamelia Phelps, and soon after moved to Spafford, Onondaga county, where Elliott was born, June 10th, 1827. The country round about was then an almost unbroken wilderness, there being but few settlers between Utica and Buffalo. His early years were spent in aiding in farm labors, which were at times excessively arduous, when forests were levelled and placed under fruitful cultivation. The family then consisted of four sons and four daughters, all of whom inherited from their parents a great taste for reading. All the books in their possession, and which were generously loaned by the neighbors in the section, were read with avidity, and scmc so often and so thoroughly that their contents were in text committed almost wholly to memory. Elliott's father was a man of great industry and force of character. His energy carried him over the weighty obstacles which hindcred the progress of many of his neighbors, and raised him to the position of the leading agriculturalist of that section of the State. At the age of eighteen Elliott left the farm to pursue a classical course of study preparatory to his entrance upon a collegiate career. He went to Homer, Cortland county, and spent two years in the academy at that place, then the principal academical institution in the State. While here he had the advantage of the instruction of a distinguished educator, Samuel B. Woolworth, who subsequently became one of the Regents of the State University, at Albany. In the fall of 1847 he entered Hamilton College, becoming a member of the sophomore class, and in 1850 graduated with honor. Upon leaving this college hc commenced the study of law under Professor Theodore W. Dwight, and in May, 1851, was admitted to the bar at Oswego. In June of the same year he came West and located at first at Ster- ling, Illinois, where he remained one year. On July 14th, 1852, he was married to Mary Dwight, the sister of his law preceptor and granddaughter of President Dwight, so well known in connection with Yale College. In the fall of 1852 he settled in Chicago, and from that time until the present has fulfilled the duties of his profession with a zeal and success rarely equalled. Hc had no adventitious aids when he set out on his legal career in that eity; but relying alone upon his individual resourees, he gradually, by the exertion of superior talent and by tireless energy, rose to a position which has brought him the comfort of wealth and the honor of a name respected by all. During his first

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year's residence in Chicago he compiled, with the aid of his wife, "A Digest of the Illinois Reports," which was pub- lished, and which was received by the profession in the State with great favor. In 1858 he was elected City At- torney for Chicago, and distinguished his administration of that responsible office by the energy and ability with which he conducted the legal business of the city. He was for several years specially retained by the municipal authorities to conduct many important cases in the local courts, in the Supreme Court of the State, and in the United States Courts. In 1863 he was appointed the General Attorney of the Galena & Chicago Union Railroad Company, then the leading railroad corporation in the Northwest, and for many years held that position, until, in fact, the consolida- tion of this company with the Chicago & Northwestern Railway Company. He was shortly after this retained by a number of the bondholders and non-consenting stock- holders to test the validity of that consolidation, and in connection with that case prepared and printed an argu- ment covering the whole ground, entitled " The Law Pertaining to the Consolidation of Railroads," which is un- questionably the most complete and exhaustive treatise upon that subject ever made. It is a marvel of legal re- search, and technically describes the powers of corporations, the rights and duties of directors, the rights of minority stockholders, and all other kindred matters. Mr. Anthony argued the case before Justice Davis of the United States Supreme Court, and Judge Treat, United States District Judge for Southern Illinois, and had his position affirmed by them. Soon after the parties interested in upholding the consolidation settled with all the dissatisfied stock and bondholders upon terms which were satisfactory. Mr. Anthony has twice been elected a member of the Constitu- tional Conventions called to revise the organic law of the State of Illinois : once in 1862 and again in 1870. Ile took a conspicuous part in all the deliberations of the latter. The profound knowledge of the science of law, and espe- cially of constitutional law, which he possessed was soon manifest in the progress of this Convention, and he became the leading authority upon legal questions which were con- tinually arising; while his practical familiarity with the details of parliamentary proceedings, and his kecn judgment of the best remedics to reform existing evils growing out of an imperfect organic law, cnabled him to do more in shap- ing and directing the labors of that body than, perhaps, any other member. IIis speech in the Convention upon " The Powers of the Convention " exhibits the most comprchen sive research, and has been an authority quoted in similar

OOK, GENERAL JOHN, was born in Belleville, Illinois, June 12th, 1826, and was the only son of Hon. Danicl P. Cook, one of Illinois' distin- guished citizens and Congressmen. General Cook remained in Belleville, living with his grandparents, until the year 1833, when the scourge of cholera which swept over the country carricd off Governor Ninian Edwards (his grandfather) among its vic- tims. The ycar following the subject of this sketch, then being in his eighth year, was placed in the family of Rev. John F. Brooks, to acquire an cducation. He remained under the instruction of the reverend gentleman until the death of his grandmother, which occurred in the year 1840. In the succeeding year he entered the freshman class of Illinois College, at Jacksonville, being but fourteen years of age and the youngest member of his class. The follow- ing ycar he was afflicted with temporary loss of sight, and was compelled to abandon the further prosecution of his studies. The disease became aggravated to such an extent in the ensuing year that it was necessary for him to be led by the hand. On a partial recovery he attempted the com- pletion of his studies at Kemper College, St. Louis, Mis- souri, but from continued failing of sight was compelled to abandon them in the sophomore course. A year from the timc he left Kemper College and assumed a clerkship in bodies of other States. IHad not his attention been turned the commission house of Rasin & Hanson, at St. Louis, from politics by domestic affliction, he would have filled offices of more than local responsibility. IIe is the founder of the Chicago Law Institute, now a large and flourishing institution which controls the law library to which, almost daily, a majority of the members of the Chicago bar resort for consultation. IIc is a gentleman of fine literary culture,

which is continually improved by miscellaneous reading, of which he is especially fond. Before the great fire he was the owner of one of the finest miscellaneous libraries in the West, which, unfortunately, was totally destroyed in that terrible conflagration. He took an active interest in the establishment of the Chicago Free Public Library, of which ever since its foundation he has been a director. For several years he has filled the Chairmanship of the Com- mittee on Library. IIe is liberal in his views and public- spirited in his actions. Early in his professional carcer he was convinced that Chicago, then to many a place of little promise, was destined to be a metropolitan city, and wisely acting upon this conviction, he invested largely in real estate, which has become immensely valuable. His career has the stamp of success on every venture-a success brought about by the exercise of good judgment, by untiring study, by industry sustained by unflinching integrity. To these qualities alone he owes his position as one of the leading men of the West. He was twice married; his first wife dying in 1864, and his second in June, 1870.

under a self-indenture of three years, with compensation, board and washing. After this, and on January 8th, 1846, he formed a partnership with the old-established house of Ilawley & Edwards, dry-goods merchants, of Springfield, Illinois-the partnership expiring in two years. On Octo- ber soth, 1047, he married the eldest daughter of James L.

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Lamb, of Springfield. Until the year 1854 he was engaged | number of his regiment, with the second rank as colonel ; in speculating, etc., with some degree of success. In this year he entered into politics, and in the following year was elected Mayor of Springfield. In 1856 he was elected Sheriff of Sangamon county, and at the expiration of his term of office was appointed Quartermaster-General of the State of Illinois by Governor W. H. Bissell. In 1858 he organized an independent company of militia, known as the Springfield Zonave Greys, and was chosen Captain. This company was the first tendered to and accepted by Governor Yates, under the State's quota of the seventy-five thousand troops ordered by the President and enrolled for the sup- pression of the rebellion, and was the nucleus of the Ist Regiment of Illinois Volunteers, of which he was chosen Colonel, and which took the number, 7, in honor of the six regiments furnished by the State of Illinois for the Mex- ican war. As there has been some difficulty, arising from the fact that the same honor was claimed by the 8th Regi- ment, it may not be amiss to make the following statement in regard to the matter. The commission of Colonel Cook was dated April 24th, 1861. The act appended confirms his position as Colonel of the 7th, notwithstanding claims put forward by Adjutant-General Haynir, in behalf of Col- onel Oglesby, for that position :

"An Act Confirming the Election of Officers in the Volun- teer Militia of the State of Illinois. In force April 29th, 1861.

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 90

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