The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 98

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

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REE, LAMBERT, Lawyer, is a graduate of the Columbia College, in Washington. IIe studied law with James Carlyle, who is now a prominent and leading practitioner before the Supreme Court at the national capital. Ile read law for a period of two years, and graduated finally from the law department of the University of Vir- ginia. In 1855 he moved to Chicago, and eventually be- came a member of the firm of Tree & Clarkson. IIe has a large business in the line of real estate practice, and the management of the legal affairs of several important corporations.

TODDARD, LUKE F., Physician, was born at Unity, New Hampshire, on December 6th, IS27. His parents, both natives of New England, were of English extraction. His father, Rev. William H. Stoddard, D. D., took up the study of medi- cine, and graduated at a New England medical college. IIc emigrated to Illinois, with his family, in 1837. He located in Montgomery county, and began the practice of medicine, which practice he continued to the time of his death. Luke received his education at the IIillsboro' Academy. On leaving school he went to St. Louis, and was there employed as a clerk in a mercantile establishment. While performing the duties of this position he still found time to pursue medical studies, and attend medical lectures. After some time he left St. Louis and went to Cincinnati, where he attended lectures at the Eclectic Medical Institute. He graduated from this institution and immediately com- menced the practice of his profession in Bond county, Illi- nois. Subsequently he practised for a time in Fayette, and finally he settled permanently at Hillsboro', Montgomery county, where he yet remains, in the enjoyment of as large a practice as any physician in the county. The love of the medical profession is hereditary in the Stoddard family it would seem, and in the office with him is one of his sons, a graduate of the same medical college, and associated with him in his practice. Thus there are three generations of doctors, all practising in the same town. In 1874 Dr. Luke Stoddard was a Delegate to the National Medical Conven-

AVIS, DAVID, Merchant, Banker, and Mayor of Litchfield, Illinois, was born in Madison county, Illinois, on December 6th, 1838. His father was of Welsh extraction on the paternal side, while his mother was an Italian. The mother of the subject of this sketch was a native of Virginia. His father emigrated to the State of Illinois in 1834. David was educated at the public schools in Madison county, Illi- nois. On leaving them he taught for one term, then entered a mercantile establishment, in which he remained but a few months, when he engaged in business for himself in Litch- field, where he has ever since resided. . His business was and is that of groceries and varieties. He began in a small way, but to-day he has the finest and largest establishment in the city. In addition to conducting this flourishing con- cern, he is the Manager of the banking-house of Leach, Davis & Co., the staunchest financial institution in the sec- tion. In politics he has always been a Republican, and during the war his whole influence was brought to bear in favor of the Union cause. He has served as Assessor for two years, and as Alderman for two years. In the spring of 1875 he was elected Mayor of Litchfield, an office the functions of which he discharges with marked ability and a single eye to the promotion of the public welfare. Mr. Davis is one of Litchfield's most enterprising and reliable men, and as such bears the good-will and high estcem of his fellow-citizens. In all his transactions the same honor- able motive prompts him. He was married on December 23d, 1867, to Blanche Keating, of Rockbridge, Illinois. He was one of the original stockholders in the Litchfield Coal Company.

URNER, JOHN L., Lawyer and County Judge, was born in Newburgh, Orange county, Ncw York, February 15th, 1815. He is the son of Joseph Turner and Deborah Ann (Losey) Turner. His preliminary education was acquired in the Allegheny College, Meadville, Pennsylvania. Upon leaving that institution in 1835, he went in 1836 to Westfield, Chautauqua county, New York, where he began the study of law under the instruction of Judge Mullet. In 1844 he was admitted to the bar in Chautauqua county, and

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subsequently practised his profession there for a brief period. | his father, and it was very thorough, and embraced both a In 1846 he removed to Waukegan, Illinois, and there re- sumed his professional labors. In 1853 he was elected County Judge, a position which he has held continuously down to the present year. Prior to this, in 1849, he was elected Justice of the Peace, an office he has since continued to fill. He was married in 1837 to Anne M. Ramsey, of Westfield, who died in August, 1839, and again in 1849, to Olive M. Steele, of Lake county, Illinois.

RAWLEY, FRANCIS W. S., Lawyer, of Chicago, was born in Erie county, Pennsylvania, on Feb- ruary 12th, 1825. His parents were John Braw- ley and Mary Saltsman. He received an aca- demical education, and afterwards studied law under the Hon. John Galbraith, at Eric. Having been prepared for admission to the bar before reaching his majority, and requiring to wait a year or so for examination, he in the meantime (1845) moved west to Chicago. He passed and was admitted to the bar in 1847, immediately after which he removed to Freeport, Stephenson county, Illi- nois, and began the practice of law there, forming a partner- ship with Martin P. Sweet, a prominent lawyer of Freeport, since deceased, and afterwards with Joseph M. Bailey, also eminent in the legal profession. During 1854-58 he was County Superintendent of Schools and School Commissioner of Stephenson county, was City Attorney of Freeport from 1865 to 1868, and Postmaster from 1852 to 1858. He removed to Chicago in 1869, and commenced practice there, where he still follows the profession. He was Attorney for the Illinois Central Railroad for twelve years, and for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad held the same post, for the north- western section of the State, for several years. IIe is also the Attorney for the American Insurance Company of Chi- cago, and has been so since 1859, and for several years has acted in the same capacity for the German Insurance Com- pany of Freeport. During 1871-72 he was in partnership with the late Col. T. J. Turner, of Freeport. He was mar- ried in 1850 to Mary Reitzell, daughter of Philip Reitzell, of Stephenson county, Illinois.

EMING, HENRY H., M. D., was born at Free- dom, Portage county, Ohio, on August 3d, 1845. His father, Rev. Friend A. Deming, was a native of Massachusetts, and of English extraction, whose ancestors came over in the " Mayflower." The Rev. Mr. Deming moved to Ohio in 1843, and there officiated about two years, when he was called to Illinois, where the next year was spent by him in the minis- try. His mother, Mary Jane Deming, was born in Con- Recticut. Henry acquired his cducation principally from

classical and scientific course. At the age of eighteen he commenced the study of medicine, under the distinguished Professor N. S. Divis, and graduated from the Chicago Medical College at the age of twenty-two. He then began the practice of his profession at Pana, Illinois, where he has ever since been located. Ilis practice is a large one, and his reputation as a physician is a very flattering one. He is a member of the American Medical Association; of the District Medical Society of Southern Illinois, of which he is the Treasurer ; also of the Wabash Valley AEsculapian So- ciety. Some while since he received and still holds the appointment of United States Examining Surgeon for Pen- sioners. Ile was married in 1869 to Harriet L. Knight, of Troy, Ohio. The doctor devotes his whole time to his profession, and his success is attributable to hard study and talent displayed.

ASEY, HON. ZADOK, ex-Member of Congress, ex-Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois, was born in Georgia in 1798. His ancestors came from the county Tyrone, Ireland, and in 1817 emigrated to the then Territory of Illinois, settling in what is now Jefferson county. At this early day the surrounding country was a sparsely settled and uncultivated wilderness, and the hardy pioneers who sought to reclaim it from its sterile wildness and the hostile savages were constantly menaced by perils of every sort. His education was the result of his own unassisted labors, and his varicd store of knowledge was acquired by the excrcise of keen powers of observation rather than by the study. of text and school books. Not until his manhood was reached had he learned to write; yet such was the power of his natural talents that but few of those with whom he was brought into contact excelled him in any matters embracing the truly useful. In 1828 he became a member of the State Legislature, and in 1830 was elected Lieutenant-Governor of Illinois. During the Black Hawk war, in 1832, he served in the ranks, and was with Major Dement's " Spy Battalion," at Kellog's Grove, when it was surrounded by Black Hawk and his warriors. In 1832 he was elected to Congress, and served continuously with that body for ten years. ITe often presided over the House of Representa- tives when it was a Committee of the Whole, and was es- teemed as one of the ablest parliamentarians of his day. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention in 1848, and afterward was frequently a member of each House of the State Legislature. He was the compeer and personal friend of Douglas and Lincoln. Strongly attached to the Democratic party, he brought to its support talents of a high order, and throughout the State was ranked as a useful citizen and a man of sterling worth. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for over forty years acted as a minister of the gospel. He died

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September 12th, 1862. The late Samuel K: Casey, favor- ably known in Illinois, was one of his sons. Hon. N. R. Casey, of Mound City, Illinois, and Thomas S. Cascy, of Mount Vernon, are also his sons-each of whom have at- tained reputation in their native Statc.

AMP, JAMES L., Postmaster of Dixon, Illinois, was born in Lowville, Lewis county, New York, December ISth, 1825. Ile is the son of Rcv. Phineas Camp, a Presbyterian minister, and Mary Ann (Leeworthy) Camp. He was educated at the Hamilton College, in Clinton, Oneida county, New York. In 1847 he removed to Cincinnati, where he engaged in the loan business. He subsequently rcsided for a time in West Virginia, and in 1852 moved to Rockford, Illinois, where he purchased a farm. In 1853 he settled in Dixon, and opened a dry-goods and general store, which he sustained until I858. IIe then acted for some time as City Clerk. In 1861 he was appointed Postmaster of Dixon by President Lincoln, and has since continued to hold that office. He is an active and influential member of the Re- publican party, and is widely and favorably known as a citizen and as an official.

ARKS, CALVIN CHAPIN, Cattle Raiser, and popularly known as the " Cattle King," was born in Troy, Oakland county, Michigan, May 29th, I 829. He is the son of Calvin C. Parks and Har- riet (Thomas) Parks. Ile was the recipient of an academical education. On the termination of his school life, he became engaged as a clerk in a store at Pontiac, Michigan. In 1846 he moved to Chicago, Illinois, and there found employment, also as a clerk, in a dry-goods store. 'In 1854 he established himself in business on his own account, as a wholesale clothier, in connection with Huntingdon and Wadsworth, under the firm-style of Hunt- ingdon, Wadsworth & Parks, and thus associated, trans- acted business until he retired in 1861. In this year he opened a banking and brokerage business in company with George M. Gray, under the style of C. C. Parks & Co., which was prosecuted until the firm failed in 1864. IIe then removed to New York, and began business afresh as a stock broker, at first alone, and subsequently, in August, 1366, in connection with Charles I. Osborn. After the dis- solution of the firm in January, 1868, he was engaged in business with his brother, under the name of C. C. Parks & Co., until January, 1872. In the same year he settled in Waukegan, and engaged in stock-raising, a business which he has since constantly prosecuted. He possesses a very extensive stock-farm near Waukegan, and his yearly sales of stock amount to about $75,000. He is known as the " Great Short Horns Dealer," and also as the " Cattle

King " of Illinois. Previous to his last arrival in Wauke- gan, he was a resident of this place, his family having sct- tled there many years ago. From 1869 to 1872 he carried on the stock-raising business in partnership with his brother, Robert Hall Parks, with whom he is now connected in the Glen Flora Mineral Spring business. Ile was married in 1854 to Evelina E. Shepard, daughter of Albert Shepard, of Racine, Wisconsin.

ALKER, HON. PINKNEY HI., now, and for many years past, one of the Judges of the Supreme Court of Illinois, was born in Adair county, Ken- tucky, on June 18th, 1815. His father, Joseph G. Walker, was an able lawyer. His mother's maiden name was Martha Scott. His early life was similar to that of a large proportion of the successful men of this country. His youth was passed in that portion of Kentucky where labor was no more discreditable than it is in Illinois, and until his seventeenth year he was employed upon his father's farm during the summer, and attended school in the winter. In the spring of 1832 he became a clerk in a store, and so continued until he left Kentucky. In April, 1834, he came to Illinois and settled at Rushville, the county-seat of Schuyler county, and at that time one of the most thriving and promising of the interior towns of the State. Here he was engaged in a store for four years, thus acquiring a practical knowledge of business in various forms. In March of 1838 he removed to Macomb, and during the spring and summer gave his time to study at an excellent academy then established at that place. In the fall of the same year he commenced his legal studies in the office of his uncle, Cyrus Walker, well known at that time as one of the ablest lawyers of the State. Young Walker could not have fallen into better hands. His uncle was a lawyer of the old type, devoted to Cokc and Blackstone, and relying upon principles rather than cases. He was, withal, a man of singularly genial temper, delighting to communi- cate knowledge, and he could not but have been interested in the instruction of his nephew. Under such tuition the latter throve apace, and during the next year was admitted to the bar after an examination by Judges Lockwood and Brown of the Supreme Court. He at once opened an office in Macomb, in partnership with Thomas Morrison, and the next year, 1840, formed a partnership with his uncle, Morri- son having removed to Carthage. The partnership between the uncle and nephew continued until the former withdrew from practice in this State in 1842. From that time until 1848 the subject of our sketch continued in practice by him- self in Macomb. In 1848 he returned to Rushville, where he subsequently, in 1851, formed a partnership with Robert S. Blackwell, whose brilliant but brief career is well known to the older lawyers of the State. This connection con- tinued until 1853, when Blackwell removed to Chicago, and Walker was elected Judge of the Fifth (now Eleventh) Ju-

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dicial Circuit, then comprising the counties of Schuyler, [ the student of the Illinois reports now finds many opinions Pike, Brown, McDonough, Cass and Mason. The first election was to fill a vacancy, and he was elected over his competitor against heavy party odds. In 1855 he was re- elected without opposition. He continued in this position, to the great satisfaction of the bar and people of his circuit, until April, 1858, when Governor Bissell appointed him to the Supreme Bench, to fill the vacancy made by the resigna- tion of O. C. Skinner. In June, 1858, he was elected by the people to fill the same position for the regular term of nine years, and in 1867 he was re-elected. At both elec- tions the political party to which he belonged was in a very decided minority, and the rival candidates were able men, but the people were unwilling, from merely political consid- erations, to send a tried and faithful judge from the bench, and Judge Walker was returned by a large majority at each election. His present term will expire in 1876, and it is greatly to be hoped for the sake of the State, that he may again be returned as triumphantly as he has been on former occasions. He served as Chief-Justice from January, 1864, to June, 1867, and again from June, 1874, to June, 1875. The above are the prominent events in his public life. Of his domestic life it need only be said that he was married June 2d, 1843, to Susan McCrosky, who was born in Adair county, Kentucky, but was a resident of Rushville when the marriage occurred. He has a family of promising children, and his home-life has been one which any man might covet. Judge Walker is a man of large and powerful frame, indicating great capacity for endurance, and the probability of a long life. He is now in the full vigor of his faculties, mental and physical, and should remain in the Supreme Court for many years to come. Ilow important his public services are, none can so well tell as those who have been associated with him on the bench. Their testimony is earnest and unanimous. Ilis complete devotion to the duties of his office, his thorough conscientiousness, his high sense of rectitude, his habits of patient investigation, his trained and accurate judgment, his perfect familiarity with legal princi- ples and ready application of them in the solution of new and difficult questions, all these qualities make him a most valua- . ble man in the position he now occupies. But he is not merely a profound lawyer and an eminent judge. He is a man of wide and varied reading. Ilis early education was limited, but he has been a lover of books and a student through all his youth and manhood. With these tastes and the aid of a powerful and tenacious memory, he has accumulated a great store of varied information. He has a natural love of sci- ence, and this taste and his habits of close observation have caused him to keep pace with the constant advance of scien- tific discoveries, especially as they are applied to the prac- tical affairs of life. Steady intellectual growth can be traced with singular clearness in his published opinions. These now cover a term of nearly twenty years. His early opinions. while correct in their legal principles, show some want of experience as a writer, but improvement began at once, and

written by him that are conspicuous for strength of reasoning and power of expression. Bat any sketch of Judge Walker which made no allusion to his moral as distinct from his intellectual characteristics would be very incomplete. The fine moral nature of the man wins the affectionate attach- ment of his friends. Ile is generous and unselfish, and his sympathies flow out at once towards the poor and the un- fortunate. No one ever heard him utter a word of unkind- ness to an inferior. He is, indeed, incapable of unkindness to any one. Although not rich, his hand is " open as the day to melting charity." He would rather be imposed upon than not give to distress. This feeling of sympathy and kindness makes him take a special interest in young lawyers who have not achieved a position in their profession, and are struggling with poverty. For such he always has words of encouragement and good cheer, and they repay his sym- pathy with a sentiment of affectionate gratitude. And in his sympathy with young men there is nothing of that patronizing manner which sometimes accompanies expres- sions of kindness, but at the same time takes from them all their charm. He is so thoroughly modest that he constantly underrates himself. IIe is, indeed, not sufficiently self-as- serting, but this peculiarity endears him the more to the young practitioner just commencing the professional race. His career presents an admirable example for the imitation of young men. Without wealth or powerful family connec - tions, or the advantage of thorough early training, or bril- liant talent, he has, by patient labor, by perseverance, by personal integrity and official uprightness, established for himself a reputation and position of which his children may well be proud when he is gone.

AWLEY, IION. JOHN B., Lawyer and Congress- man, was born in Fairfield county, Connecticut, February 9th, 1831, and went to Illinois with his parents when quite young. He studied law and was admitted to the bar in 1852. In 1856 he was elected State Attorney, serving four years. He entered the Union army as Captain in 1861, and took an active part in the battles of Forts Henry and Donelson, re- ceiving injuries in the last engagement which made it neces- sary for him to retire from military duty in 1862. In 1865 he was appointed by President Lincoln Postmaster of Rock Island, and was removed the year following by President Johnson. He was elected a Representative from the Sixthi District of Illinois to the Forty-first Congress as a Republi- can, and entering upon his duties as such March 4th, 1869, he was appointed to the Committee on Public Lands and the Committee on Freedmen's Affairs. IIis first speech, delivered January 14th, 1870, was on the admission of Vir ginia. He proved himself an earnest and able speaker on any measure that he advocated, and an assiduous worker in

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committee. He was re-elected to the Forty-second and Forty-third Congresses, on the latter occasion polling 13, 123 votes to 7215 by his opponent, C. Truesdale, Liberal and Democrat.

ILLIAMS, NORMAN, Lawyer, was born in Woodstock, Windsor county, Vermont, February Ist, 1835. His father, Hon. Norman Williams, was a prominent attorney of Woodstock, Vermont. Norman was fitted for college at Meriden, New Hampshire, and in 1851 entered the University of Vermont, graduating with the class of 1855. Imme- diately after leaving college he entered the law office of Tracy, Converse & Bassett, in Woodstock, where he pursued a course of legal studies, and also in the Albany law school until 1858. In November of this year, after his admission to the bar, he removed to Chicago, and began the practice of his profession. In 1862 he became one of the firm of King, Kules & Williams, which was in existence until 1866, when, with General J. L. Thompson, he formed the present firm of Williams & Thompson. They possess a large and rap- idly increasing business, and are held in high esteem by both the members of the bar and the community in general. He was married in December, 1867, to Carrie Caton, daughter of ex-Chief-Justice Caton, of Illinois.

IN DEUSEN, DELOS, Cashier of the Banking- house of Beach, Davis & Co., Litchfield, Illinois, was born in Allegheny county, New York, De- cember 9th, 1823. He is a descendant of the Mohawk Dutch family of that name, and his an- cestors were natives of Holland, who settled in New York State at a very early day. His father, Joshua B. Van Deusen, was a well-known hotel-kcepcr of James- toown, New York. Delos was educated in Jamestown, New York. In 1846 he moved to Ohio, and settled at Dayton, where he engaged in the boot, shoe and leather business, which he pursued until 1857. He then disposed of his business and removed to Litchfield, Illinois, where he has since constantly resided. Upon his arrival here he did not engage in business, but was variously occupied until June, 1861, when he entered the army as Captain of a company which he had organized, and was eventually attached to the 6th Regiment of Missouri Infantry. Throughout the war this body of troops was under the command of General Sherman, and was an active participant in all the engage- ments, beginning with the siege of Corinth and closing with the memorable march through Georgia and the Carolinas. In April, 1864, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant- Colonel of the 6th Missouri Regiment, and commanded that force until the termination of the conflict. He was finally mustered out with his regiment, in September, 1865.

He then returned to Litchfield, and was elected City Magis- trate for four years. He subsequently became Cashier of the banking house of Beach, Davis & Co., a position which he still occupies. In politics he is a supporter of the Re- publican party, and is one of its most active and valued allies. In 1873 he was elected to the City Treasuryship; was twice re-elected, and is now serving his third term. Hle is also a stockholder in the Litchfield Car Manufactory. He was married, in February, 1852, at Dayton, Ohio, to Hen- rietta M. Snyder, of that place.

TILES, ELIAS B., Merchant and Banker, was born in the township of IIuntington, Luzerne county, Pennsylvania, March 9th, 1820. He is the son of Lewis Stiles and Sarah (Dodson) Stiles. Ilis education was acquired in the common schools located in the vicinity of his home. He removed to Dixon's Ferry, now Dixon, in 1840, and was engaged in a store as clerk until 1842. He subsequently established himself in business on his account in association with Otis A. Eddy, under the firm-style of Eddy & Stilcs. In 1846 he moved to St. Louis, and was there temporarily engaged in business until his return to Dixon in 1848. IIe then became a land agent, an office in which he attaincd considerable importance, attending to the securing of titles to the land, advance money for purchases, etc. He was also occupied extensively in general real estate business and in building operations. In 1853 he established a private bank, and under his own name continued to sustain this en- terprise until 1864. From 1850 to 1862 he was County Treasurer, with intermission from 1858 to 1860. In 1862 he was a candidate on the Democratic ticket for Congress against Washburne, and in the attendant contest pressed his rival very closely. Since 1864 he has been engaged mainly in farming and agricultural pursuits.

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The biographical encyclopedia of Illinois of the nineteenth century, Part 98

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