USA > Illinois > Livingston County > The biographical record of Livingston County, Illinois > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62
Mr. Flagler has been prominently identi- fied with almost the entire growth and de- STEPHEN A. GOODMAN. velopment of Dwight, as when he located there there were only six houses in the place. Stephen .A. Goodman, the efficient en- gineer of the Dwight Electric Light Com- During the first year of his residence here he and his wife, with another family, oc- pany and a highly respected citizen of
72
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Dwight. Illinois, was born in Huntingdon county, Pennsylvania. December 26. 1851. and is a son of James J. and Catherine ( Nu- men ) Goodman, also natives of Pennsyl- vania. By trade the father was a wagon- maker and bridge carpenter. and during his residence in the Keystone state followed bridge building on railroads and canals. In 186; he brought his family to Illinois and lo- cated on a farm in Dwight township. two miles southwest of the town of Dwight, mak- ing his home there for two years, at the end of which time he took up his residence in town, where his death occurred, in 1884, and where his wife is still living. In their fam- ily were ten children, namely: Anna, wife of W. Il. Watson, a conductor on the P'enn- sylvania Railroad and a resident of Altoona, Pennsylvania: Mattie, widow of G. W. Stewart and a resident of Union Furnace, Pennsylvania: Stephen .A., our subject : Emma, wife of George Taylor, a farmer and dairyman of Dwight township; AAlfred, a farmer of Grundy county, Illinois: James. a conductor on the Chicago & Alton Rail- road : George, who is employed in the round house at Dwight : Mary, twin of George and deceased wife of John Camerorn, of Ono, Willow county. Nebraska; Nora, wife of Frank Phole, of Dwight : and Bruce, an en- gineer on the Chicago & Alton Railroad.
The boyhood and youth of Stephen .1. Goodman were mainly passed in Pennsyl- vania, and at the age of fifteen he entered the Mill Creek furnace shops to learn the blacksmith and machinist's trades, his father being then engaged in the hotel business at Mill Creek. He was sixteen years of age when the family came to Ilinois, and for a time he worked at his trade in Dwight. Sub- sequently he accepted a position as engineer and general assistant with the firm of Hef-
fenbaugh & Rutan, but his first permanent position as engineer was in the okl stone m.ll of Hahn & Siegert, where he was employed two years. He next entered the service of the Chicago & Alton Railroad in the round house at Dwight, and later was fireman on the Streator branch of that road and served the company until 1893. He spent two years as fireman on the Pennsylvania Railroad. running between .Altoona and Harrisburg. Pennsylvania. In November. 1896, he ac- cepted his present position with the Dwight Electric Light Company, and has since filled it in a most capable and satisfactory manner.
On the 22d of September. 1877. at Dwight, was celebrated the marriage of Mr. Goodman and Miss Belle Goodspeed, a na- tive of Grundy county, Illinois, and a daugh- ter of George R. and Emily ( Starkey ) Goodspeed. Her father gave up his life for his country as a soldier of the Civil war. During the last ten years of her life Mrs. Goodspeed made her home with our sub- ject and there died March 31. 1897. Mrs. Goodman died January 12, 1893. and of the three children born of that union, Emma died at the age of four years and Hattie at the age of eleven. Charles is still living and is with his father. Mr. Goodman was again married, in Peoria, Ilinois. April 20, 1897, his second union being with Miss Agnes McCloskey, a native of Blair county, Pennsylvania. They have a pleasant home in Dwight. erected by him in 1882.
In political affairs Mr. Goodman sup- ports the Democratic party. While a resi- dent of Altoona, Pennsylvania. he joined the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. and now affiliates with Dwight Lodge, No. 513. vi which he is past noble grand. He is also a member of Pacific Encampment. No. 120. and was elected and installed chief patriarch.
73
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
but resigned on account of his night work. which occupies his time to the exclusion of everything else. He is a thorough and skilled machinist and is a highly respected and honored citizen of Dwight. He was for five years a member of the Illinois state guards and was honorably discharged.
N. M. AND TRUMAN M. KELLOGG.
These brothers, who are numbered among the representative citizens of Pontiac town- ship. Livingston county, own and operate a fine farm of three hundred and twenty acres on section 8, pleasantly located on Wolf creek. within three miles of the city of Pontiac. They are natives of Oneida county, New York, the former born near Utica June 29. 1829, the lat- ter October 7. 1835. and belong to an old colonial family of English origin, which was founded in this country by two brothers. who were among the pioneers of Connecti- cut. Our subjects' paternal grandfather. Truman Kellogg. was a native of that state and a pioneer of Oneida county, New York, where he located in 1790. There he cleared and improved a farm in the midst of the wilderness, making it his home throughout the remainder of his life. The father, who also bore the name of Truman, was born in that county, in 1795, and on reaching man- hood married Malinda Marsh, also a native of Oneida county. He was a farmer by oc- cupation and lived on the old Kellogg home- stead throughout life, dying there May 17. 1867. Hle survived his wife only a few weeks, as she died March 3. 1867. In their family were four children, two sons and two daughters, but only the former are now liv- ing
In the county of their nativity the broth- ers passed their boyhood and youth, being provided with good educational advantages in both common and select schools. In 1852 Truman M. went to Chicago, where he en- tered the employ of the Illinois Central Rail- road Company, in the engineer department, as a rodman, and for twenty years was em- ployed in the general office of the civil en- gineer for the Illinois Central Railroad Com- pany at that city. being promoted for suc- cessful service from rodman to division en- gineer, and as such he superintended the con- struction of the Lake Shore harbor. N. M. Kellogg remained at home with his parents until their deaths, having charge of the farm. In 1868 he came to Livingston coun- ty, Illinois, and purchased the farm in Pon- tiac township where the brothers now re- side. They located thereon in 1871, and have since devoted their time and energies to the further improvement and cultivation of the place, converting it into one of the most desirable farms of its size in the coun- ty. They follow general farming and have engaged extensively in feeding and shipping stock, fattening from six to ten car-loads of cattle and hogs annually. To this branch of their business they have devoted considerable attention for the past fifteen years, and re- cently have made a specialty of the breeding and raising of good roadster horses of the Hamiltonian and other standard bred stock. Success has attended their well-directed ef- forts and they are now numbered among the most substantial men of the community in which they live.
Politically the Kellogg brothers have been life-long Democrats, and N. M. has served as highway commissioner for fifteen years, but neither have cared for official hon- ors, preferring to give their undivided atten-
74
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
.
tion to their extensive business interests. They are men of keen perception and sound judgment and their success in life is due to their own well-directed efforts, so that they deserve to be prominently mentioned among the leading and representative business men of this county. Fraternally. Truman M. is a member of the Masonic lodge of Pontiac. having been made a Master Mason some years ago.
CHARLES H. LONG, M. D.
The world has little use for the misan- thrope. The universal truth of brotherhood is widely recognized, also that he serves God best who serves his fellow men. There is no profession or line of business that calls for greater self sacrifice or more devoted atten- tion than the medical profession, and the suc- cessful physician is he, who through love of his fellow men gives his time and attention to the relici of human suffering. Dr. Long is one of the ablest representatives of this noble calling successfully engaged in practice in Pontiac, Illinois.
The Doctor was born in Dimmick town- ship, La Salle county, this state, May 14. 1850. a son of Archibald and Adeline ( Leigh ) Long. The father was born in Gal- lipolis, Gallia county, Ohio, in October. 1825. a son of Archibald and Catherine ( Keller ) Long. The grandfather was born near Wheeling. West Virginia. September 24. 1,91, and was one of a large family of children left orphans at an early age, and who were thrown upon the workl to make their own way with little educational ad- vantages. He managed, however, to acquire mitch varied information, which, with untir- ing energy, he ever put to use for the uplift-
ing of his fellow men. Miter drifting about through Tennessee, Georgia and North Car- olina during his boyhood he was finally mar- ried. in October. 1813, and settled in Gal- lipolis, Ohio, where most of his family were born and where he acquired some property. He also secured the maintenance of select schools in the county, and early became a leader and exhorter in the Methodist Episco- pal church, and afterward a licensed preacher. He spent a few years in Indiana. and then, in order to secure homes for his children. now grown. he came to Hlingis. locating first in the military tract. near Knox- ville, Knox county, in 1834. He built the first mill in that section and opened his house for church and school purposes, there being neither in his locality. He regularly filled appointments to preach for miles around. and our subject now has in his possession the parchment certificate given by Bishop Mor- ris, in 1839, at his ordination as deacom. He soon secured the building of a church at Hermon, the expense of which was largly borne by himself. At camp meetings and revivals he was recongized as powerful in ex- hortation and prayer. It was at a meeting in his house that his son. Archibald, Jr., and Rev. M. L. Haney were converted. In 1849 he removed to La Salle county, and early the following year secured the organization of a church at La Salle, there having been no religious society there prior to that time. Ile resolved to build a house of worship and went about with his usual energy to accom- plish this, hauling lumber, raising money and working on the building. While thus en- gaged he was exposed to the inclemency of the weather and contracted a disease that affected his lungs and eventually caused his death. His home was always the stopping place for all ministers, and he labored un-
75
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
tiringly for his church. He held most all the local offices, including those of school di- rector and justice of the peace, and in his death the community realized that it had lost one of its most valued and useful citi- zens.
Archibald Long, Jr., the father of our subject, was reared on his father's farm near Knoxville, and received a good practical ed- ucation in the select school conducted in his father's home. This was largely supple- mented in later years by extensive reading and observation. He built the first saw- mill at Knoxville and engaged in milling for some time. In early days before the grist-mill was built, the family hauled their grain to Chicago, a distance of two hun- dred miles. The early pioneers ground their cornmeal on stones. After building the mill the Long family sometimes rafted flour down the Mississippi river to St. Louis. In Knox county, Archibald Long, Jr., was married, in 1847. to Miss Adeline Leigh, a daughter of Robert Leigh, a veteran of the war of 1812, and an early settler of that county, where he followed farming until his (leatlı. Her paternal great-grandfather. Leigh, was private secretary to George Ill, of England, and for political reasons fled to the United States. He was the pos- sessor of a large fortune, which the family never received. After his marriage, the Doctor's father engaged in farming in Dim- mick township, La Salle county, and was one of the large land owners of his locality. AAlthough he gave strict attention to his business affairs he never neglected his duties to his fellow men, and took a very active part in education and church work, ably seconding his father in the support of the feeble little church at La Salle. He was a member of the official board throughout lite
and after his father's death was its strong- est mainstay for forty years. He was hon- ored with all the township offices. He died in La Salle county, December 31. 1892, and the mother of our subject departed this life in 1856, leaving two children, the younger being Robert, now a resident of Koszta, Jowa.
Dr. Long began his education in the dis- trict schools near his boyhood home, and at the age of fifteen years entered the academic department of Wheaton College at Wheaton, Illinois, where he was a student for two years. In 1866 he entered the Illinois Wes- leyan University at Bloomington, where he was graduated with the degree of B. S .. in 1873. being president of the class organi- zation during his senior year. In the mean- time he had engaged in teaching schools, and after leaving college followed that pro- fession for three years as principal at Mack- inaw, Stanford and Homer, Illinois.
Having decided to make the practice of medicine his life work, Dr. Long matricu- lated at Hahnemann Medical College, Chi- cago, in 1875, and was graduated with the degree of M. D .. at the Chicago Ilomeo- pathic Medical College in 1878. 1le is now the leading homeopathic physician of Pon- tiac, and enjoys a large general practice. He served as United States pension examiner under Presidents Hayes and Arthur, doing all the work in that line for the county, there being no pension board at the time. In 1880 he was elected coroner of Livingston county and served by re-election eight years, dur- ing which time he held the inquests made necessary by the terrible Chatsworth wreck when seventy-four Niagara excursionists lost their lives. He is an honored member of the Illinois Homeopathic Medical Associa- tion, of which he was provisional secretary
76
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
two terms, ending in May. 1899. and is also an active member of the Central Illinois Homeopathic Association. He is medical examiner for the Modern Woodmen of America at Pontiac.
Dr. Long has been twice married. his first wife being Miss Martha Veimont, who died March 20, 1884, leaving two children, who are still living. namely: Eva Mary, now attending the Northwestern University at Evanston, Illinois, and Archibakl V., at home. For his second wife he married Lida Sterry, daughter of C. W. Sterry, of Pon- tiac, and to them have been born two chil- dren : Christopher Sterry and Katherine. The family have a beautiful home at No. 304 East Water street, Pontiac.
From the start Dr. Long has served as secretary of the Pontiac Riverview Chan- tauqua Association, which is to-day one of the most successful organizations of the kind in the west, financially and otherwise. and he is also a trustee of the Illinois Wesleyan University at Bloomington, and also trustee of the board of finance for the same institu- tion. With such ancestry it is not strange that the Doctor takes a very active and prominent part in church work and has al- ways been willing to contribute his share to any enterprise for the public good. He is one of the leading and influential members of the Methodist Episcopal church of Ponti- ac. and is now the oklest member of its offi- cial board in point of continuous service, having held some office for the past twenty- two years. After serving eight years as su- perintendent of the Sunday school, he re- signed that position to become superintend- out of the primary department, which has de- veloped rapidly during the seven years he has been in charge, the enrollment at pres- ent being two hundred and fifty. He was
also secretary of the Livingston county Sunday School Association seven years: was chairman of the executive committee a number of years: vice-president of the third Illinois district, and has been chairman of the finance committee a number of years. At the age of thirteen he was elected sec- retary of the Sunday school, which he at- tended, and has since been officially con- nected with Sunday school work. He was a lay delegate to the general conference of the Methodist Episcopal church, at Cleve- land, in 1896, and at Chicago, in May, 1900, and for four years was president of the Lay Association of the central Illinois conference. He is also editor of the Pontiac Methodist. with which he has been connected from its beginning, in 1896. As a physician 'he ranks among the ablest. and as a citizen he stands deservedly high in public esteem, be- ing honored and respected by all who know hin.
AUSTIN GIBBONS.
Austin Gibbons, of Dwight, was born in county Mayo, Ireland. January 5. 1840. a son of Philip and Bridget ( McDonald ) Gibbons, also natives of that commy. The father was born December 10. 1819. and continued to make his home in county Mayo until his emigration to America in March, 1851. For three years the family made their home in New York state and in 1854 came to Illinois, locating first in Kendall county and removing to Livingston county in 1865. Ilere the father purchased a half-section of land in Nevada township, which he operated eighteen years, and then moved to Chicago. where he has since made his home. He is highly respected and esteemed and is a de-
79
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
Yout member of the Catholic church, to which his wife also belonged. She died in the fall of 1899. at the age of eighty years. In their family were nine children. all of whom are still living, namely: Mary, a resident of Chicago; Austin, our subject : Margaret, widow of Denslow Marsh and a resident of Pittsburg, Kansas; Ellen, of Chicago: John, of Barton county, Missouri ; Philip. Jane. Sarah and Thomas, all of Chi- cago.
Our subject was only four years old when brought to this country by his parents and his education was begun in New York state, though the greater part of it was ob- tained in the schools of Kendall county, 11- linois. At the age of twenty-two he started out in life for himself by learning the trade of bridge builder and carpenter, which he followed twelve years. During this time he made his home in Nevada township. Liv- ingston county, and on retiring from that business, in 1877, he engaged in farming on section 2. that township, where he purchased eighty acres of land. To this he added one hundred and sixty acres in 1896, making a fine farm of two hundred and forty acres, which he placed under a high state of cul- tivation. In connection with general farm- ing he always gave considerable attention to stock raising, his specialty being Norman horses.
In 1897 Mr. Gibbons commenced buying grain for Edmund Mezger, of Dwight, and continued in his employ until that gentleman failed in business in March, 1898, when he entered the employ of William Pope, who then took the elevator, remaining with him until the fall of 1899, when Mr. Pope sold out to Merritt Brothers, of Dwight, by whom Mr. Gibbons has been retained as manager of the elevator. That fall he built a pleas-
ant residence at the corner of Waupansie and North Clinton streets, Dwight, and in the spring of 1900 took un his residence there, having remained on his farm up to that time.
On the 6th of January. 1878, Mr. Gib- bons married Miss Margaret Kane, a native of Wisconsin and a daughter of Robert and Ann Kane, of that state, where her father died a number of years ago. Her mother met her death in the tornado at St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1893. Mrs. Gibbons was their only child. Our subject and his wife have a family of five children : Nellie, now the wife of William Neville, a farmer of Good Farm township. Grundy county, Hlinois, by whom she has one child, Frank: Frank, son of our subject and his father's assistant in the grain business in Dwight ; and Annie, Philip and Sarah, students in the public schools of Dwight.
Religiously both Mr. and Mrs. Gibbons are members of the Catholic church of Dwight. He has always been a stanch sup- porter of the men and measures of the Dem- ocratie party and taken an active and promi- nent part in local polities for a number of years. He was assessor of Nevada town- ship in 1871 and 1872 and served as super- visor of that township for more than twenty years, which office he filled continuously un- til the spring of 1900. when, owing to his removal to Dwight, the township was forced to seek another representative. His long retention in office plainly indicates his effi- cient service and the confidence and trust reposed in him by his fellow citizens. He was chairman of the board in 1897 and 1898 and was one of the special committee to oversee the building of the county house. which was built during his term at a cost of seventy-five thousand dollars. He was
.
So
THE BIOGRAPINCAL RECORD.
chairman of the board of equalization for sixteen consecutive years and served on most of the committees, especially the more important ones. He was school treasurer for ten years prior to his removal to Dwight and the cause of education always found in. him a faithful friend. In 1892 he was the Democratic candidate from his district for member of the state board of equalization and although he failed of election he suc- ceeded in reducing the usual Republican ma- jority from twenty-five hundred to five hun- dred. a fact which testifies strongly as to his personal popularity. At present writ- ing he is the nominee of his party from the twentieth district as a member of the legis. lature. No man in his community is more highly respected or esteemed. and he has been called upon to settle a number of es- tates in Livingston, Will and Grundy coun- ties, and is now in charge of three estates as exeentor and administrator.
S. H. POTTER, D. D. S.
S. 11. Potter. D. D. S., a prominent and successful dentist of Dwight, Illinois, was born on the 7th of July. 1874, in Sheldon. Iroquois county. this state, and is a son of M. G. and Mahala (Griswold) Potter, na- tives of New York state and pioneers of Iro- quois county, Illinois. In early life the fa- ther engaged in farming and as a progressive and enterprising agriculturist he met with marked success, becoming owner of some five hundred acres of valuable land in that county. Having secured a handsome prop- erty he moved to Sheldon, in 1881, and has since lived a retired life. enjoying the fruits of former toil. In his family were ten chil- dren, nine of whom are still living.
Of this family Dr. Potter is ninth in order of birth. He received his literary ed- ucation in the public schools of Sheklon and was graduated from the high school of that place. In 1893 he entered the Northwestern Dental College. of Chicago, where he pur- sted the regular course and was graduated in April. 1896, with the degree of D. D. S. That same month he came to Dwight and opened an office. Although he met with strong opposition from his competitors, he was not discouraged. and, as his skill and ability were soon widely recognized, he was not long in buikling up the excellent practice which he now enjoys. He is especially pro- ficient in bridge and crown work and has met with remarkable success. His younger brother. Edgar C., was graduated at the Northwestern Dental College, May 1, 1900, and is now engaged in practice with our sub- ject, under the firm name of Potter Brothers. Politically, the Doctor is identified with the Republican party, and socially. affiliated with Hebron Lodge, No. 176. K. P., of Dwight.
JOHN Q. JOHNSON.
John Q. Johnson, whose home is on sec- tion 29. Esmen township, has been identified with the agricultural interests of Livingston county since July, 1857, and has borne an active part in its development and progress. He comes from across the sea, for he was born in Norway, November 1, 1835, and is a son of John and Martha ( Iverson ) John- son, who spent their entire lives as farming people in that country. The father was four times married, and our subject is the young- est of the five children, two sons and three daughters, born of the second union. lle
THE BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD.
and a sister are now the only survivors. He was reared on a farm and had fair common school advantages. His knowledge of the English language has all been obtained through his own efforts since his emigra- tion to America.
Before leaving Norway. Mr. Johnson was married, in April. 1856, to Miss Caro- line Mitchell, also a native of that country. and the following year they came to the new workl, taking passage on a sailing vessel at Stovanger and reaching Quebec, Canada. after a voyage of six weeks. They crossed the lakes to Chicago and proceeded at once to La Salle county, this state, where friends from Norway had previously located. Soon afterward they came to Livingston county and located in the town of Amity, where they made their home while Mr. Johnson worked by the day or month as a farm hand four or five years. Ile next rented land, and in 1864 bought eighty acres of the farm in Esmen township, where he now resides. At that time it was wild prairie with no improve- ments, but he built thereon a small house and soon placed the land under excellent cul- tivation. He has since purchased an ad- joining eighty-acre tract, and the whole has been converted into a well-improved farm. He has tiled and fenced the land, has erected a good residence and substantial outbuild- ings, and has set out fruit and shade trees. In 1893 he bought another place of forty acres on section 29. Esmen township, where he now lives, and he has since made many improvements upon that farm.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.