Bottom of page 1070 History of Knox County, Illinois
FRANK OSCAR GUSTAFSON.
Frank Oscar Gustafson is living retired in Altona. His birth
occurred on the 6th of January, 1855, in Sandstad, Yoder Hara,
Linkoping Lan, Ostergotland, Sweden, his parents being Gustav and
Maria (Israelson) Johnson. The father's birth occurred in 1812 in
Sweden and throughout his life he engaged in farming Mrs. Johnson
was a daughter of Ian and Eva Israelson and was born in 1822. They
both passed away in 1877, Mrs. Johnson having died very suddenly on
Sunday while going home from church on account of a violent seizure.
Mr. Johnson's death occurred a few weeks later and both were laid to
rest in the same cemetery. They were the parents of a large family,
three of whom survive: Gustav Adolph,
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1071, Illinois
who is a carpenter of Hunter, Oklahoma; Anton L., of Holdrege,
Nebraska; and Frank Oscar the subject of this review.
After attending the common schools in his native land, Frank Oscar
Gustafson began at the age of fifteen years to work on his father's
farm and until his emigration on the 21st of April, 1875, was
engaged in farming and railroading. He made the trip to America in
company with his sister, who later died in Monroe, Nebraska, coming
directly to Altona, where he arrived on the nth of May. On the same
day he hired out to Andrew Main and the next year was in the employ
of William Main for one season. Upon his arrival in America he had
almost no financial resources and because of his inadequate
knowledge of the language and of the customs of the country, was
forced to accept any work that offered. In the fall he engaged in
husking corn and cutting broom corn and for fourteen summers was
engaged in tiling. During the intervening winters he worked in the
Clifford coal mine, in Walnut Grove township, and for five years was
employed in Culbertson's meat market and for an equal length of time
was employed by S. M. Whiting.
On the 17th of March, 1902, he left Illinois and removed to Clark
county, South Dakota, where he took up farming on his own account.
Having always saved his money carefully he was now able to purchase
one hundred and sixty acres of land and subsequently acquired an
additional quarter section, and had five hundred acres in crops
under cultivation, all of which gave good yields. While there Mr.
Gustafson served as juror in the United States court of the Black
hill division. He was elected to the school board and served as
chairman until 1910. In 1906 he was a central committee man from his
division and also was appointed judge of election of his district in
that year; in 1908 he received the appointment of superintendent of
election for his precinct. In that year he sold one of his farms
dividing the proceeds between his sons, and returned to Altona,
where he now lives retired. Prior to his departure for the west he
was elected repeatedly constable of Walnut township and served as
such for eight years, or until 1889.
Mr. Gustafson has been twice married, his first union occurring on
the 4th of August, 1884, to Miss Emma Carolina Nelson. She was a
daughter of Swan and Bangda Nelson, and was born January 3, 1858, in
Galesburg, Illinois. Her parents were among the pioneers of Knox
county and she was one of ten children. Her death occurred September
15, 1892, in Altona. To Mr. and Mrs. Gustafson three children were
born: Anthony Leonard, who is a teacher in Brown's Business College
of Peoria; Arthur Paul, who is residing in Clark county, South
Dakota, where he is engaged in farming; and Edward Cline, who is
married and is engaged in cultivating his father's farm in Clark
county, South Dakota. Mr. Gustafson's second union was to Miss
Sigrid Swanson, whose birth occurred October 8, 1854, in
Christianstad, Sweden and who is a daughter of Swan and Eva
(Anderson) Olson. Her mother died when she was but three years of
age and she was reared by her father and his parents. In 1882 she
left her native land for America and settled first in Geneseo,
Illinois, but later came to Altona. Mr. Gustafson is a member of the
Swedish Lutheran church and also of the Modern Woodmen of America of
Altona. In America Mr. Gustafson found the opportunity he sought in
the freedom and appreciation of the growing country. Born in a
foreign land and proud of his native land and sturdy
1072 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
ancestry, he is patriotic and sincere in his devotion to the land of
his adoption. His career is actively identified with the history of
the development of the middle arid far west, and as a result of
incessant labor and application he now lives in retirement at Altona
in most comfortable circumstances. He arrived there years ago
practically penniless but is now numbered as one of the honored and
respected citizens.
CHAUNCEY S. COLTON.
Chauncey Sill Colton, a son of Justin and Abigail Colton, was born
on the 21st of September, 1800, in Springfield, Pennsylvania. He was
the first merchant of Galesburg and erected a store on land which is
now the northwest corner of the public square. From 1836 until his
death in 1885, he was a conspicuous figure in the public life of
Galesburg, where he was well and favorably known. He was interested
in all of the institutions which were established to promote the
public welfare and he was regarded as one of the best friends of
Knox College. At the time of his death Newton Bateman, then
president of Knox College, wrote the following letter to his family:
"Sea Cottage, York, Maine, July 30, 1885. "The sad news of the death
of Mr. Colton pains me deeply. Knox College had no truer friend. He
was an honest, upright, just and good man. He was my personal
friend. He gave me a kind welcome when I first came to Galesburg and
was my friend, ever generous and true, from that day till he died.
My respect for him and confidence in his unswerving integrity
increased with every year of my acquaintance with him. I honored and
loved him in his life and I mourn for him now that he is gone. I
shall never see my venerable friend again in this world. God's, will
be done. The college he loved so long and well will now be dearer to
me than ever, if possible, and my life shall be consecrated anew to
its interests while I have strength to think and plan and work for
its prosperity.
"Yours in sorrow,
"Newton Bateman."
For nearly a score of years C. S. Colton developed his business,
constantly enlarging its scope, until it assumed large proportions.
He built and operated a large packing establishment—the first one in
that large section of Illinois. Fie packed and shipped the first
pork, beef, corn and wheat from that part of the country. Hundreds
of farmers' wagons annually hauled this freight to the Illinois and
Mississippi rivers, down which he shipped it to New Orleans, and
thence to New York and Liverpool for sale. Mr. Colton annually
bought large quantities of sugar, molasses and other heavy goods
cheaply, of first hands, in New Orleans, and shipped it at "high
water" to Oquawka, to be hauled to Galesburg, enabling him to sell
these products cheaper than his competitors in other towns, and
thereby increased his trade and built up Galesburg as a trading
center.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1075, Illinois
Finally, Mr. Colton appreciated that the mode of transportation to
water, by "horse power," was too slow and cumbersome. He therefore
decided that a railroad was needed so he went to the legislature and
secured a charter for the Central Military Tract Railroad, to run
from Galesburg to Chicago.
At this time Mr. Colton fortunately made the acquaintance of James
F. Joy, the leading spirit of the Michigan Central Railway, then
just completed to Chicago. Mr. Joy contracted with Mr. Colton to
secure the cooperation of his company in the building of this first
branch road from Chicago to the interior of Illinois. The Boston
directors demanded a considerable local subscription to the stock.
The time limit was expiring, when, at James F. Joy's urgent appeal,
Mr. Colton and another gentleman subscribed for the balance of the
stock, which they carried five years without any dividends. Then the
Boston people had to carry out their contract. The railroad was
completed to Galesburg in 1854. About this time a road was built
from Peoria to Oquawka. The company got into financial troubles.
General A. C. Harding, of Monmouth, the leading spirit in this
road, proposed to his friend, C. S. Colton, to get his company to
take over the P. & O. Railroad. Mr. Colton went to Boston and got
his directors together and laid the offer before them, and finally
induced them to buy this cross-country railroad. Later on, the
Quincy people undertook to build the Northern Cross Railroad, and
had about fifty miles built when their money gave out. Air. Colton
was an intimate friend of the president of the Northern Cross
Company. The two men had an interview, and finally Mr. Colton
proposed that if the Northern Cross people would build to Galesburg,
he would try to induce his Boston directors to back them with the
money. Mr. Colton's arguments again prevailed with his directorate.
The result of these three enterprises was a completed line
connecting Chicago, Burlington and Quincy. Then the joint owners
dropped their original titles and named their system the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy Railway.
The village of Galesburg became the local center of this railway
system, and later on was developed by this railway into the
important city it is today.
In 1868 the Mississippi was bridged, both at Burlington and Quincy.
Over these bridges the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy spread
eventually to the Missouri river, and later on to the mountains
beyond. It was at the suggestion of Mr. Colton that his company
purchased the Rockford, Rock Island and St. Louis Railway, and also
the skeleton of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad, which
was completed and extended indefinitely.
Chauncey S. Colton, by his constant study and work in the interests
of these great railroad enterprises, lived to see less than a
hundred miles of railway develop and extend four thousand miles in a
quarter of a century, while he was the only western director in the
company. He had initiated every extension of the system from its
incipiency. Today, the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railway has ten
thousand miles of track spanning a dozen states.
TRIBUTE OF RESPECT.
The directors of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company,
at their August meeting in Boston, added their tribute to the memory
of the late Hon. Chauncey S. Colton:
1076 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
"Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad.
"At a meeting of the board of directors of this company, held August
12, 1885, it was voted to adopt the following resolution:
"The board of directors of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad
Company has learned with sincere regret of the death of Mr. Chauncey
S. Colton, who took a prominent part in the organization of the
company, and served as a director from that time until 1876. To the
earnest efforts of Mr. Colton in the early days of the company is
largely due the successful inauguration of the enterprise, and this
board desires to place on record the fact of its appreciation of Mr.
Colton and his valuable services to the company.
"T. S. Howland, clerk pro tern."
FRANCIS COLTON.
To place a specific value upon the labors of the Hon. Francis Colton
is impossible and yet there is no individual that has not been at
least indirectly benefited by his life work. Moreover, in the
consular service of the nation his course reflected credit and honor
upon the country he represented. Capable of solving important and
intricate problems, he at all times has been actuated by a patriotic
devotion to his native land and his work in behalf thereof has ever
been of a practical and resultant character that furthered American
interests and promoted the high standing of this country among
Europeans.
While Mr. Colton made Galesburg his home during the greater part of
the time spent in this country he was born in Monson, Maine, May 22,
1834, his parents being Chauncey Sill and Emily (Hamilton) Colton,
who removed with their family from New England to Galesburg in 1836.
The progenitor of the Colton family in the new world was
Quartermaster George Colton, an officer of the English army and
descended from an old family of England. "Quartermaster George," as
he was known during his life and since, was the first settler of
Long Meadow, now a suburb of Springfield, Massachusetts, where he
took up his abode in 1640, since which time the family has regarded
that place as the ancestral home. Its cemetery is filled with
monuments to different members and collateral descendants of the
Colton family. Almost without exception the members of the family
have held to the faith of the Congregational church.
When Chauncey S. Colton brought his family to Galesburg in 1836,
Francis Colton, the youngest child, was only two years of age. The
journey from New England to Illinois was an arduous undertaking with
four small children and a mother who was in delicate health. It
required six weeks to travel by water and stage. The only railroad
in the United States at that time was a short line extending from
Boston half way to New York, over which they traveled.
Francis Colton was educated in the Galesburg schools, in Knox
Academy and Knox College. He was graduated from the college in 1855
when twenty-one years of age. In June, three days after his
graduation, he entered business life in connection with his father
and brother John, under the firm name of C. S. Colton & Sons. On the
nth of May, 1864, Mr. Colton became director
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1079, Illinois
and vice president of the First National Bank and later was
appointed United States collector of internal revenue. From each
experience and activity of life he learned the lesson therein
contained and stored up his knowledge for future use. He has never
faltered in the accomplishment of any purpose or task to which he
seriously set himself and his entire career has therefore been
characterized by progress and by successful achievement.
On the 26th of June, 1857, occurred the marriage of Francis Colton
and Miss Frances A. Garey, who died March 21, 1869, in Paris,
France. There were two sons of that marriage but the elder, Albion
Garey, who was born February 15, 1859, died August 10, i860. The
younger son, George Radcliffe, born April 10, 1865, is now governor
of Porto Rico. It was in 1875 that Francis Colton was again married,
his second union being with Annie C. Snively, of New York. Their
children were: Emily Marian, the wife of Captain Davis of the navy;
Julia Carina, deceased; and Annie Marguerite.
During the Civil war Francis Colton spent two years in settling up
the widely scattered business affairs of his firm and was then
called to public service, being in June, 1866, appointed as United
States consul to Venice, Italy, to succeed William Dean Howells, the
well known author, who returned to America to assume the editorship
of the Atlantic Monthly Magazine. On the 24th of August, 1866, Mr.
Colton's resignation as director of the First National Bank of
Galesburg was received and accepted and his father, C. S. Colton,
was at once elected to fill the vacancy both as director and vice
president of the bank. This change was rendered necessary because of
the absence of Francis Colton occasioned by his consular service in
Venice. While in that city on the Adriatic he was the correspondent
of the New York Tribune, writing concerning the "Unification of
Italy." This was an important historic period for in the first year
of his residence in Venice came the "Battle Summer"—the great
conflict between Germany and Austria which, together with other
great transformations in European history, also resulted in the
freedom of Venice from Austrian domination and the uniting of it to
Italy. During Mr. Colton's residence abroad he opened a chapel at
his consulate for American and English travelers, presided over by a
Scotch Presbyterian preacher. It became the nucleus for a Protestant
mission among the Venetians. Finally they purchased a Venetian
palace through the liberal subscriptions of chapel attendants and
other generous people in England and the United States. This palace
was used for church and school purposes under the charge of the old
Waldensian Protestant church of Savoy. King Victor Emmanuel issued a
royal decree putting this palace property in the legal possession of
the Waldensian church which is the oldest church in Europe. This
royal decree is considered to have been the entering wedge which
resulted in a statute allowing all Protestant churches to own
property in Utah
In 1869 Francis Colton returned to America just as the first Pacific
railroad was completed, spanning the continent. He was appointed
general passenger agent with headquarters in Omaha. The first year
in office Mr. Colton attended a railway convention in Chicago in
which all of the railroads of the country were represented. He
introduced a measure for through tickets and reduced rates. The
railroad people at first were strongly opposed to the scheme but Mr.
Colton carried his motion on the last day of the session, after a
week's contest.
1080 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
This was the beginning of reduced through passenger tickets, a
system which has grown and expanded continuously since. As a result
the passenger traffic of the Pacific roads was doubled and the
earnings of the other lines were largely increased. In 1871 Mr.
Colton was appointed general foreign agent of the Union and Central
Pacific Railways and was sent to Japan and China to turn the tea
trade to San Francisco, the result of which was a greatly increased
freight business for both roads and connecting lines. Fast tea
trains from San Francisco to Chicago and New York could successfully
compete with the all-water lines by way of the Suez canal to London
and New York. Mr. Colton traveled through India and finally
completed the circuit of the globe. He arranged with all the steamer
and railway lines for a "round-the-world" ticket. This was the first
of the long distance passenger tickets ever put on sale which led in
time to the present extensive sale of tourist tickets to every part
of the globe. When in this country or abroad he was constantly
studying situations, figuring out possibilities and making
preparations to meet any emergency or condition that might arise. He
reasoned out logically from cause to effect and his solution of
intricate and involved problems was a most accurate one. While still
working in the interests of the railway companies he established a
general agency in London for booking passengers to China, Australia
and India by way of America, which largely increased the business of
the Pacific railways and all connecting lines. During the stay in
London he negotiated with all of the Atlantic steamer lines to unite
with American railways in diverting the regular passenger traffic by
way of the Suez canal to our new route to the Orient by way of New
York and San Francisco. Each steamer company joined in instructions
to their hundreds of agents all over Europe to advertise this new
route by way of America, which furnished travelers with a temperate
line of travel, thus avoiding the old hot route by way of the Red
sea. To further emphasize this new departure in Oriental traffic Mr.
Colton wrote and published a book, illustrated with pictures of
American sleeping and dining cars and other attractive features of
"Our New Way Around the World." This was circulated from the London
office of the Pacific railways and the new venture proved a success.
Mr. Colton purchased many thousands of acres of railway lands in
Nebraska during this period and the investment proved a profitable
one. Today these same lands in their present owners' hands are worth
millions, which shows what the railway systems have done for the
development and growth of the far west. In 1872 he became president
of the Farmers & Mechanics Bank of Galesburg and the first year in
which he had executive control and administrative direction he
doubled the capital and the deposits of the bank. Its business
steadily grew during the twelve years of his management and made him
a prominent factor in the financial circles of his home city, second
only to the prominence and importance of his labors in public
connections. Mr. Colton was again called to public office when in
1876 he was appointed by the governor of Illinois as a commissioner
to the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. At the opening of the
fair, he stood with the other commissioners by the side of Dom
Pedro, emperor of Brazil, and General Ulysses S. Grant, president of
the United States, when the latter touched the button in the
presence of tens of thousands of enthusiastic people and set in
motion all of the machinery of that remarkable
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1081, Illinois
exposition, celebrating the one hundredth birthday of the American
Republic. In 1884 Mr. Colton retired from active business and
removed to Washington, D. C, where he now resides at 1635
Connecticut avenue. For a quarter of a century he has been a member
of the Metropolitan Club, whose membership includes the president
and his cabinet, all of the foreign legations and the principal army
and navy officers. Mr. Colton was fifty years of age at the time of
his retirement and almost thirty years of leisure in which to enjoy
those activities and interests which are most pleasurable to him
have been accorded him. His life has indeed been a serviceable one
to the world's work, his labors being of far-reaching value and of
both national and international importance.
GEORGE W. JONES.
George W. Jones, the well known auctioneer, who owns and operates a
farm in Lynn township and is one of the heaviest stock-raisers and
shippers in the northern part of the county, was born on the 17th of
August, 1872, on the old home farm called the Lynnwood stock farm,
upon which the old log. house stands which was built by J. Heiter,
the pioneer. George W. Jones is a son of Walter N. and Addie E.
(James) Jones. The father was born in Wayne county, Ohio, but after
his removal to Illinois settled permanently with his wife and two
children at Galva. As a boy he learned and followed the art of
photography, but here he engaged in the restaurant business. Soon,
however, after starting this establishment it was destroyed by fire
and he removed with his family to Lynn township on to his farm, but
the last few years of his life were spent in Galva and in St.
Joseph, Missouri, where he died on the 9th of September, 1908, at
the age of sixty-four years. Mrs. Jones is still living and is
seventy years of age. Mr. Jones was one of the most prominent
farmers in the northern part of Knox county.
After finishing school George W. Jones remained at home and farmed
on the home place and on his brother's farm, while his parents were
in Galva. After continuing in this occupation for eleven years he
was married and moved to Galva, but still retained the ownership of
his farm. He attended the Trenton (Mo.) Auctioneering School and
received the training which has helped to make him one of the most
successful auctioneers in these parts. In addition to this Mr. Jones
is also extensively engaged in feeding and shipping cattle and hogs,
and is one of the largest taxpayers in the northern part of the
county. -During the past three years he has sold over ten thousand
dollars worth of hogs besides grain and other farm products. By
careful management and un-abating energy he has built up a large
stock-raising and shipping business and has become one of the best
known stockmen in this section. In addition to these various
enterprises in Illinois he is also interested in business
undertakings in St. Joseph, Missouri.
Mr. Jones was married to Miss Lucy M. Cree, a daughter of Simeon R.
and Eva L. Lowe Cree. She was born on the 12th of April, 1873, in
Lynn township, and her mother is living in Toulon, Illinois. To Mr.
and Mrs. Jones four children have been born: Walter, who is ten
years of age; Clarence, who is eight; and Evelyn and Ivan, who are
five and three years respectively.
1082 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
His extensive undertakings have prevented Mr. Jones from any active
participation in political affairs and he has never desired nor
sought public office. Yet he finds time to consider it his duty as
citizen to carefully weigh the qualifications of measures and
candidates, and uses his vote and influence in behalf of the
interest of the commonwealth. He holds membership in the Methodist
church of Galva and is alas a member of the Woodmen of America. He
has shown industry and perseverance and has step by step made his
way in the world until he is now numbered among Knox county's
substantial and very successful men and one of its most highly
valued citizens.
BENJAMIN
FRANKLIN SHADLEY.
The name of Benjamin Franklin Shadley at once indicates the regard
of his ancestors for those men who have been foremost in molding the
destiny and shaping the policy of America. He was born in Shelby
county, Indiana, June 3, 1867, and comes of German lineage, his
grandfather, William Shadley, having been a native of Germany and an
early settler of Licking county, Ohio. He removed westward to
Illinois in pioneer times and died in Clark county of milk
sickness—a disease prevalent in an early day. Both he and his wife
were well advanced in years when called to their final rest. They
had reared a large family including Nathaniel Shadley, who was born
in Licking county, Ohio, in which state he was partially reared
although spending a portion of his youth in Indiana. Having reached
man's estate he wedded Emily Fouty, a native of Shelby county,
Indiana, and a daughter of William Fouty, who was born in
Pennsylvania and was of German descent. Mr. Fouty was a farmer and
stock-raiser and was thus associated with the business interests of
Shelby county where both he and his wife died in old age. They, too,
had a large family including Mrs. Emily Shadley, who is still living
and now makes her home with her daughter, Nancy, in Fairland,
Indiana. Her husband, the father of our subject, passed away in
Shelby county at the venerable age of eighty-three years. Fie had
been a worthy and respected citizen there and for many years had
capably filled the office of surveyor. His life conformed to the
teachings of the Methodist church of which he was long an active
member and to which his widow still belongs. They had a family of
seven sons and three daughters: Ephraim, of Los Angeles, California
; John, a resident of Fairland, Indiana; Nancy, who married J. W.
Fausler, also of Fairland; Isaac, who died at the age of
twenty-three years; Fanny, the wife of A. C. Jeffries, of London,
Indiana; Benjamin F., of this review; Tilson, of Greenwood, Indiana;
Francis, living in Galesburg; Charles, of Indianapolis, Indiana; and
Jennie, who passed away at the age of five years.
Benjamin Franklin Shadley was reared in the county of his nativity,
spending his youthful days on the home farm where he early became
familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the
agriculturist. The summer seasons were devoted to the task of
tilling the soil and winter months to the acquirement of an
education in the district schools. He was twenty-one years of age
when he left Indiana for Illinois, becoming a resident of Canton in
1888. There he worked in the plow shops for a year and a half, after
which he removed to Gales-
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1083, Illinois
burg and became a brakeman on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad, June 23, 1889. For about twelve years he followed
railroading and for five years of that period he was depot master
and also ran trains occasionally as a conductor. On the expiration
of that period he was appointed chief of police under Mayor
Shumway's first administration and continued in the office for about
sixteen months. He was then appointed by Governor Yates on the state
board of arbitration, representing organized labor, and was chairman
of that board for about seven years. In June, 1911, he received the
appointment to his present position as parole commissioner for
Pontiac, Illinois.
On the 22d of December, 1890, Mr. Shadley was married to Miss Alice
Prichard, who was born in Lewiston, Illinois, a daughter of John E.
and Laura Murphy Prichard, the former a native of Ohio and the
latter of Illinois. Her father died in Galesburg, October 24, 1902,
at the age of fifty-six years, but her mother is still living. Mr.
Prichard had served as a soldier in the Civil war, doing duty with
Company G, One Hundred and Third Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Mrs.
Shadley was their only child and by her marriage has become the
mother of two children, Harold M. and Hazel Marie.
Mr. Shadley is well known in fraternal and club circles. He has
attained high rank in Masonry and in the order has a wide
acquaintance, belonging to Alpha Lodge, No. 155, A. F. & A. M.;
Galesburg Chapter, R. A. M.; Galesburg Council, R. & S. M.;
Galesburg Commandery, No. 8, K. T.; and Mohammed Temple of the
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine. His name is likewise found on the
membership roll of the Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias and Elks
lodges and the Modern Woodmen of America. He belongs also to the
Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen, No. 24, the Fraternal Reserve Life
Association, of which he is a supreme director, and to the Galesburg
Club. His political prominence as a leading member of the republican
party and his membership relations with many fraternal and social
organizations have made him very widely known and his personal
characteristics have gained him warm friends wherever he has gone.
PETER F. BROWN.
Peter F. Brown has long been a prominent and leading factor in
financial circles in Knox county, having for almost a quarter of a
century served as president of the Galesburg National Bank. His
birth occurred in Mercer county, Illinois, in the year 1851, his
parents being Harrison and Martha Brown. They were both natives of
Kentucky and came to Illinois in 1834.
Peter F. Brown supplemented his preliminary education by a course of
study in Lombard College of Galesburg, Illinois. He made his initial
venture in the business world as a clothing merchant of Galesburg
but subsequently became identified with financial interests as the
teller and cashier of the Farmers & Mechanics Bank at that place. In
1889 he was chosen president of the Galesburg National Bank and in
that important capacity has since guided the interests of the
institution in such a manner as to insure its continued growth and
success.
On the 24th of June, 1875, in Galesburg, Mr. Brown was united in
marriage to Miss Clara Maud Tenney, a daughter of Hammond Mar shall
and Lorette (Low-
1034 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
ther) Tenney. They became the parents of three children, as follows:
Maurice Tenney, who wedded Mary E. Johnson; Mildred, who gave her
hand in marriage to Edward E. Pearce; and Curtis Harvey Brown. In
politics Mr. Brown is a republican, loyally supporting the men and
measures of that party. Pie is a charter member of the Galesburg
Club and was three times honored by election to the presidency of
that organization. Such in brief is the life history of Peter F.
Brown, who is known as a dependable man in any relation and in any
emergency. His right conception of things and his habitual regard
for what is best in the exercise of human activities are notable
assets in his career. His frankness and cordiality of address have
gained him many friends, while his genuine personal worth has won
for him well merited confidence and trust.
ALBERT JAMES PERRY.
Albert James Perry was born in Alden, Erie county, New York,
December 10, 1841. Since 1889. he has been engaged in business in
Galesburg, Illinois, as a mortgage broker—his efforts, however,
extending to various lines of business which have constituted forces
in public progress and improvement as well as in individual
advancement.
His father, Colonel James Perry, was born at Brimfield,
Massachusetts, September 19, 1796. He was the son of Isaac Perry,
who enlisted as a soldier in the Revolutionary war. After a short
time, he was detailed as an army nurse in the city of Boston. After
his death, his widow, Mrs. Mary Tiffany Perry, was granted the usual
pension. Isaac Perry died in 1843 or x^44 when about eighty-six
years of age, and his wife passed away in 1857 at the same age. Both
are buried at LeRoy, New York. Their son, Colonel James Perry, was
well educated for his time and acted as superintendent of schools.
He was also lieutenant colonel of the New York militia in Erie
county. In the community where he lived, he figured prominently in
various connections. Lie was a pension and bounty land attorney and
likewise attended to all kinds of business for his neighbors that
required a knowledge of legal forms and procedure. His death
occurred at Alden, New York, November 29, i860. His wife, Mrs.
Sophronia Perry, was born in western New York, May 22, 1804, and
died October 30, 1880. She was descended from the grim old Quaker,
Stephen Hopkins. Hopkins was born at Scituate, Rhode Island, in 1707
and died in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1785. He was a colonial
governor of Rhode Island and one of the signers of the Declaration
of Independence. His daughter, Lydia Hopkins, the great-grandmother
of Mrs. Sophronia Perry, married Colonel Daniel Tillinghast, and the
ancestry of the Tillinghast family includes Richard Warren, who came
to America in the Mayflower. Mrs. Sophronia (Pengra) Perry was a
woman of liberal education and a successful school teacher. In other
lines, too, she displayed marked capability, notably in the rearing
of her large family of four sons and six daughters, namely, M.
Antoinette, Edgar H., Mortimer, Mary A., James B., Amanda M.,
Adaline J., Albert J., Adelia R., and Ellen Louise. Of these, James
died in infancy and all are now deceased with the exception of Mrs.
Antoinette Dodge, Albert J. Perry and Mrs. Adelia R. Taylor.
ALBERT J. PERRY
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1087
After attending the common schools and the Alden (N. Y.) Academy,
the subject of this sketch was admitted in i860 to the sophomore
class of the Rochester University at Rochester, New York. He was
without financial resources, and owing to this and the out-break of
the Civil war and the death of his father, he did not find it
possible to pursue his university course. Moreover, his mother
needed his assistance in the support of herself and her invalid
daughter. Mr. Perry entered business life as a telegraph operator
and railroad station agent in 1861, remaining in the employ of the
New York & Erie Railroad in that capacity until 1865. In the latter
year he came to Galesburg as bookkeeper in the building department
of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, in which
position he continued until 1873. He afterward engaged in teaching
for two terms, and then entered the office of the clerk of the
circuit court and recorder of Knox county in July, 1873, in a
clerical capacity. The following year he was appointed deputy, which
office he held until December, 1882. In this year he was elected
county clerk of Knox county and held the office most acceptably for
eight years, making a period of seventeen years in the service of
the county. He began reading law while in the circuit clerk's office
under the tutorage of Honorable E. P. Williams, and in 1877 was
admitted to the bar, but he has never engaged in practice other than
to use his knowledge of the law in the conduct of his private
business. In 1889 he began conducting a mortgage brokerage business
and also acted as administrator and guardian of numerous estates. He
has also been treasurer of the Mechanics' Homestead & Loan
Association and has been connected with banking interests in various
capacities. He was president of the Second National Bank of
Galesburg from January, 1891, until February 24, 1904. In the latter
year he became a director of the First National Bank of Galesburg.
Activities of a public nature, relative to educational interests and
benevolent projects have divided his time with his business affairs.
He has been treasurer of Knox College since 1891 and was at one time
president of the board of trustees of the Galesburg Hospital
Association. He has also been a director of the public library from
1896 and for three years was its president.
On the 9th of December, 1866, at Savona, New York, Mr. Perry was
married to Miss Albina Hughes, a daughter of Dr. Hiram and
Lurissa (Boone) Hughes. Her father was a self-made man and in early
life followed the millwright's trade, but afterward became a
successful physician. His wife, a representative of the family to
which Daniel Boone belonged, was a loving wife and mother, whose
life was quietly devoted to her own home.
In politics, Mr. Perry has always been a republican and twice
represented the fifth ward in Galesburg on the board of aldermen. He
has belonged to Alpha Lodge, No. 155, F. & A. M. since 1866, and was
its secretary for eleven years and senior warden for one year. He
also holds membership in Vesper Lodge, No. 584, I. O. O. F. He
belongs likewise to the Galesburg Club and to the Saratoga Club
which has a resort on Pine Lake near Charlevoix, Michigan. Mr.
Perry's activities have largely touched public interests and have
constituted a feature in the general progress and improvement of
Galesburg. He is extremely modest and unassuming "in relating the
saga of his own doings." However, the specific and distinctive
office of biography is not to give voice to a man's estimate of
himself and his accomplishments, but rather to leave a perpetual
record, es-
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1087, Illinois
After attending the common schools and the Alden (N. Y.) Academy,
the subject of this sketch was admitted in i860 to the sophomore
class of the Rochester University at Rochester, New York. He was
without financial resources, and owing to this and the out-break of
the Civil war and the death of his father, he did not find it
possible to pursue his university course. Moreover, his mother
needed his assistance in the support of herself and her invalid
daughter. Mr. Perry entered business life as a telegraph operator
and railroad station agent in 1861, remaining in the employ of the
New York & Erie Railroad in that capacity until 1865. In the latter
year he came to Galesburg as bookkeeper in the building department
of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company, in which
position he continued until 1873. He afterward engaged in teaching
for two terms, and then entered the office of the clerk of the
circuit court and recorder of Knox county in July, 1873, in a
clerical capacity. The following year he was appointed deputy, which
office he held until December, 1882. In this year he was elected
county clerk of Knox county and held the office most acceptably for
eight years, making a period of seventeen years in the service of
the county. He began reading law while in the circuit clerk's office
under the tutorage of Honorable E. P. Williams, and in 1877 was
admitted to the bar, but he has never engaged in practice other than
to use his knowledge of the law in the conduct of his private
business. In 1889 he began conducting a mortgage brokerage business
and also acted as administrator and guardian of numerous estates. He
has also been treasurer of the Mechanics' Homestead & Loan
Association and has been connected with banking interests in various
capacities. He was president of the Second National Bank of
Galesburg from January, 1891, until February 24, 1904. In the latter
year he became a director of the First National Bank of Galesburg.
Activities of a public nature, relative to educational interests and
benevolent projects have divided his time with his business affairs.
He has been treasurer of Knox College since 1891 and was at one time
president of the board of trustees of the Galesburg Hospital
Association. He has also been a director of the public library from
1896 and for three years was its president.
On the 9th of December, 1866, at Savona, New York, Mr. Perry was
married to Miss Albina Hughes, a daughter of Dr. Hiram and Lurissa
(Boone) Hughes. Her father was a self-made man and in early life
followed the millwright's trade, but afterward became a successful
physician. His wife, a representative of the family to which Daniel
Boone belonged, was a loving wife and mother, whose life was quietly
devoted to her own home.
In politics, Mr. Perry has always been a republican and twice
represented the fifth ward in Galesburg on the board of aldermen. He
has belonged to Alpha Lodge, No. 155, F. & A. M. since 1866, and was
its secretary for eleven years and senior warden for one year. He
also holds membership in Vesper Lodge, No. 584, I. O. O. F. He
belongs likewise to the Galesburg Club and to the Saratoga Club
which has a resort on Pine Lake near Charlevoix, Michigan. Mr.
Perry's activities have largely touched public interests and have
constituted a feature in the general progress and improvement of
Galesburg. He is extremely modest and unassuming "in relating the
saga of his own doings." However, the specific and distinctive
office of biography is not to give voice to a man's estimate of
himself and his accomplishments, but rather to leave a perpetual
record, establishing his position by the consensus of public
opinion.
1088 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
Judged in this light, Mr. Perry deserves the recognition that should come
to those who unselfishly and effectively labor for the best
interests of the community with which they are identified.
MRS. ALBINA HUGHES
PERRY.
July 31, 1841-March 11, 1912.
Miss Albina Hughes was born in Savona, Steuben county, New York,
July 31st, 1841. She was the daughter of Doctor Hiram Hughes and
Lurissa Boone Hughes. She continued to reside in her native
village until her marriage to Mr. Perry. The early life of Mrs.
Perry was spent studying and teaching. She attended the common
schools of her native village and had the privilege also of
attending the Sonora Academy, where she enjoyed an advanced course
of study. For a time she was also the preceptress of this
institution. She was a successful teacher when but sixteen years of
age. From earliest youth she revealed a clear, perceptive mind and
she made rapid progress in all her studies. It was characteristic of
her that while following one course of reading she would memorize
another course read in her presence by pupils of a higher grade.
This alertness of mind has characterized Mrs. Perry throughout her
entire life. As a teacher she was marked by exceptional skill as a
disciplinarian. While possessed of a lively and humorous nature, her
students were somewhat awed by her presence and the promptest
obedience always followed the expression of her requests. In some
respects her pupils scarcely discovered the kind and sympathetic
nature so thinly veiled by her outward manner, and yet all dearly
loved her.
Thus as student and teacher and as daughter in the home she grew to
maturity. Her marriage to Mr. Perry occurred on December 9th, 1866.
Mr. Perry had preceded her to Galesburg by about a year and a half,
but in January, 1867, they came to our city and here for forty-five
years they have remained, sharing in all the higher life of our
community, and gathering about them a very large circle of loved and
loving friends. In this fellowship they have received and
contributed unceasing pleasure.
Throughout her life Mrs. Perry has not been physically strong. Even
at the time of her marriage she showed signs of failing health. It
is therefore a great tribute to her that she attained the good age
of seventy and one-half years. This was due almost entirely to her
methodical life, her innate knowledge of hygiene, and her constant
recognition of and her obedience to the laws of right living. These
careful habits became characteristic of her in all departments of
her life. Order and economy became the law of her household. Under
the stress of a limited income she planned that there should always
be at least a small surplus. Realizing that age might bring its own
problems of finance, she did her part toward making an annual
increase to this small surplus. Her conscience took on much of the
same formal and judicial character and her moral and social nature
was dominated by it. Indeed, one might quote that somewhat austere
verse of Pope in order to describe her in this direction:
"What conscience dictates to be done, Or warns me not to do, This
teach me more than hell to shun, That more than Heaven pursue."
But while submitting all her life to order, Mrs. Perry so directed
her affairs as to leave time for the reading of the choicest
literature in history and fiction, and for acquiring those treasures
of the mind which became so characteristic of her. She was a charter
member of the Clio Club of this city and for two years its
president. That she contributed very much to the success and to the
pleasure of the club, all its members lovingly testify. In all
matters her judgment was excellent, and it was always at the service
of her husband, whether upon matters of the domestic arrangement or
in the larger affairs of life.
While no children were born to the home, it is to be recorded that
many children and youth have here found a true home. Many grown to
maturity recall with exquisite pleasure the kindness of Mrs. Perry,
and some of them were fortunate in finding here the love of true
parents.
MICHAEL J.
DAUGHERTY.
Michael J. Daugherty, a prominent and successful attorney of
Galesburg, has there practiced his profession continuously for the
past third of a century. He is also a leading factor in the public
life of his community, serving as a member of the forty-third and
forty-fourth Illinois general assemblies. His birth occurred in
Monongahela, Pennsylvania, on the 18th of March, 1850, his parents
being Thomas and Isabella (Campbell) Daugherty. The father came to
Illinois "by water," that is he made the trip by steamboat down the
Ohio from Pitts-burg to Cairo, thence up the Mississippi to Alton,
and from that point up the Illinois river to Liverpool, which was
then a flourishing river town but is now extinct. lie thence drove
overland to St. Augustine and settled on a farm.
Michael J. Daugherty acquired his early education in the common
schools of St. Augustine. In 1862, when a boy of eleven years, he
became an active factor in the work of the farm. It was hard to find
men who wanted employment at farm labor in those days as the war of
the Rebellion was then raging and as the boy could not guide the
plow and hold the team at the same time, his younger brother rode
one of the horses and drove the other while Michael J. Daugherty
handled the plow. In 1865 he entered St. Vincent's College at
Wheeling, West Virginia, from which institution he was graduated on
the 18th of June, 1869. He then returned to the west for fifteen
months, after which he left home to make his own way in the world.
lie was identified with general agricultural pursuits for a period,
and also followed the profession of teaching for a time and likewise
engaged in the drug business. In 1876 he began the study of law and
was admitted to the bar in 1878, whereupon he opened an office at
Avon, Illinois, where he remained until 1879, when he came to
Galesburg, entering into a partnership relation with F. A.
Willoughby. Pie has remained a legal practitioner of this city to
the present time, enjoying an extensive and gratifying clientage.
1092 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
On the 18th of May, 1882, Mr. Daugherty was united in marriage to
Miss Jennie E. Brown, a daughter of James E. Brown and a
granddaughter of George W. Brown. Unto them has been born one son,
Edwin M., who wedded Miss Mabel Dunbar of Riverside, California. Mr.
Daugherty is a valued member of the Galesburg Business Men's Club
and also belongs to the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks and the
Knights of Columbus. He is a communicant of the Catholic Church and
a member of the board of Hope Abbey. His has been an active and
useful life, crowned with success and enriched by the kindly regard
of many friends who recognize and appreciate his worth.
Mr. Daugherty has been an active member of the democratic party. He
was nominated in 1884 I0r secretary of state on that ticket, Carter
H. Harrison, Sr., then running for governor. The ticket made the
best showing of any democratic ticket in the state up to that time
since the war. Mr. Daugherty, in 1885, was appointed postmaster on
the 18th day of April and continued until May 1, 1889. In 1892 and
1896 he took an active part in the campaigns, speaking throughout
this and other states. He was elected a member of the forty-third
general assembly of Illinois as minority representative for this
district. He was again elected without opposition for the
forty-fourth general assembly. He was strongly urged to accept the
third term without opposition, but refused to permit his name again
to go upon the ticket, desiring to return to the active practice of
law. While in the legislature he introduced the first direct primary
law doing away with conventions, and although there were but
fifty-one democrats to support his bill and it took seventy-seven to
pass it through the house, enough republicans rallied to his
assistance to give his bill seventy-six votes, or only one vote
short of enough to pass it. Mr. Daugherty has always taken an active
part in public affairs and has used every endeavor in his power to
assist the making of improvements in the public service. He took an
advanced stand on questions of municipal regulation of public
utilities and has steadfastly and persistently urged the necessity
of the government controlling and directing all corporations using
the public property for private purposes, such as running street
cars and other franchises on the public highways. Mr. Daugherty,
while on the committee of hard roads in the legislature, took a bold
stand for he improvement of the public highways, insisting that
the public alone should have the dominant right to the use of public
highways and that when a franchise was given to any person or
private corporation upon the highways, that they should take a
subservient right therein and that they should be regulated by
public officers. As far back as 1900 Mr. Daugherty took the position
in public affairs that the aggressiveness of those owning public
utilities would control the community and the laws, unless the laws
were made to curb their ambition to do this, and he has insisted
that the great corporations would sooner or later become masters of
the situation and grasp the reigns of government, or at least enough
power to give them control in directing the trend of law making.
Mr. Daugherty has always sought for advancement, progress and
improvement. He has taken an advanced stand on questions of
municipal ownership and as showing his ability as a writer as well
as his logical reasoning and his advanced position concerning one of
the vital questions of the day, we quote an address which he
delivered before the good roads committee, as follows:
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1093, Illinois
The pride of the English people for centuries was "The King's
Highway." It was the subject of bard, poet and patriot. On its
course distinctions of rank melted away and the beggar stood equal
to the nobleman—the chariot of the King turned out for the peasant's
cart.
The very mention of the name suggests equality and justice. It is
singular how popular the ancient laws of the road grew among the
people.
The unwritten laws were cherished as boons by the peasantry and
respected by the nobility, even the crown.
The meat of this was the satisfaction that a people find in sacred
precincts of a place, where the artificial barriers that "hedge
about" classes, are broken down and the people who generally feel,
without admitting it, that they are underlings—
"For one sacred moment touch Liberty's goal."
The highways are constructed for the general good, not for special
accommodation. Their office is to facilitate travel and commerce.
For that reason they should be free from private interference and
jealously guarded by the laws for untrammeled public use.
This is the recognized law from the very earliest ages of national
roads, and it is only of late years an emporium in imperia has
obtained where the word quasi was added to private corporations to
give them advantages of public power—the power to condemn land for
their use. Early governments found it necessary to establish neutral
grounds where the citizen or subject should with equal right pass
over or enjoy it in common. The Greeks, Romans and other ancient
countries establish baths, parks and highways that were open to all
alike. The rights of commerce, not the rights of commercial
corporations, and military movements had the dominant right on such
roads. Bandits and robbers exercised dominion over these ancient
ways, sometimes with the acquiescence of the government just as they
do now. The construction of these highways was sometimes made at
enormous cost. Sometimes they were maintained by tolls collected but
oftener were free to the public.
The most wonderful of these highways that history records is what is
known as the "Appian Way." This great thoroughfare was constructed
over three hundred and fifty miles of country, considered
theretofore impassable. Appius Claudius, knowing the delays of coast
commerce from the east, that had to be carried hundreds of miles
around the Italian peninsula, conceived the idea of cutting a road
through the miasmatic marshes, from Rome to the Adriatic Sea. This
shortened the travel from Rome to the east about one-third what it
had been.
The work was begun three hundred and twelve years B. C, and not
completed until thirty years B. C. But it made Rome the mistress of
the world in commerce and in war. We have no data informing us of
any attempt by any syndicate to obtain a charter to the Appian Way.
The American idea of having the government build roads for private
individuals, as the Pacific railways were built, had not occurred to
the grand old heathen Appius or his fellow politicians. This
wonderful road gave Rome all the advantage over her neighbors in the
movements of troops and enabled her citizens
1094 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
to outstrip their competitors, and yet it has always been free from
monopoly. In every age the streams, harbors, parks, streets and
highways have been conceded to be public property and free from
private control. The government in its sovereign capacity demanded
the right to condemn private property for public use under the right
of eminent domain. None but a sovereign of people has that right and
it is class legislation to concede it.
When the application of steam power to motor engines was discovered
ambitious men laid the foundation. of the present system of private
ownership of public highways. Within a century and a quarter the
nations have abdicated the greatest power they possess to private
individuals and have made laws carrying out the abdication.
Along with this change of ownership of public utilities has been
started a school of instruction teaching people that public
ownership is a phantasmagoria, a dream of diseased minds.
The Roman, Appius, found his nation struggling with other maritime
powers to win trade. Such a project was unheard of before, but he
saw and succeeded. It is quite different with modern civilized
governments. Special privileges and special laws have placed in the
hands of private individuals the most dangerous weapons to do with
as they please. Consolidation and combination, with the wealth of
the country, their influence in every city and hamlet, their army of
employees and a subsidized press—what reform affecting them can
obtain when they have thoroughly organized. Then we can easily
understand that the ''King's Highway" has been surrendered to trunk
lines, interurban lines, street car lines and electric and gas
companies, monopolizing every right that they want.
Marco Polo laid the foundation of another great commercial
thoroughfare that brought the Indies and East in commercial
relations with Germany, France and other European nations. This was
by way of Greece up the Danube and down the Rhine. It is singular
how modern methods assert themselves. The Roman government, not
Christian, protected the travelers on the Appian Way. It was built
and maintained as a national highway. The Danube route, however,
running through Christian countries, fell under the detestable yoke
of "The Robbers of the Rhine Valley," who laid tribute on all who
passed that way. Caravans of merchants were plundered and robbed and
finally settled down by paying a "tribute, a tariff to the robbers
who ran infant industries," amid the crags of the German hills.
Those who coasted through the Mediterranean ocean and around the
Atlantic coast of Europe were assessed by similar robbers, who
infested Tenner-iffe. Our word tariff comes from the tribute the
merchantmen paid these robbers. The United States in the early part
of the last century, following the example of foreign nations, began
the construction of military roads throughout the United States
principally westward. The great "Washington Pike," built from
Washington, D. C, to Columbus, Ohio, was the greatest and about the
last. Fulton and others discovered the force and steam and how to
apply it to motive power. Here the modern methods stepped in. The
construction of railways sprung into existence and the legislatures
ceased to make national roads and assigned to individuals the almost
exclusive right to construct them.
To do this another form of abdication took place.
The right of eminent domain is a sovereign prerogative. None but a
sovereign should wield that authority. By a fiction of law the
courts give this right to individuals and the constitutional
inhibition against a legislative body legislating away
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1095, Illinois
its sovereign power has been violated and acquiesced in until it is
a fixture. Now we know that the roads, bridges, waterways and
harbors were the exclusive property of the people, until steam
railways came into vogue. We have steamboats on our rivers, but no
one ever thinks of permitting them to appropriate our water ways.
Steam and electricity have almost monopolized the travel and
movements of commerce. Private individuals have succeeded, not only
in monopolizing these highways, but have gone into our cities and
have bound them under a net work of street car lines. They have
subsidized the press, and controlled legislation, courts, and
executive officers until the average American citizen shouts,
"Anarchist," "Socialist," or other appellations at any one who dares
to challenge the right of these monopolists to own our streets and
use them for their own good.
The supreme court of Illinois has decided that a street car company
has a dominant right to that portion of the street covered by its
lines. The corporations influence the city authorities to grant them
franchises to use the streets to lay pipes, mains, and tracks, erect
telephone and telegraph poles and string wires and give them
authority to compel the public to step aside for them. The fact is
that franchises worth thousands of dollars are donated to them and
they have enjoyed these privileges so long that they imagine they
own the streets. Nay more, they point with pride to their
magnanimity in letting the public use the parts of the streets they
do not want.
The denizens of our cities have slept on in a dream of fancy until
their waking hours have been dominated with the dream illusion. The
public has been gradually shunted from its inheritance in public
highways and private enterprise has taken and monopolized them. It
is deemed treason to talk of municipal ownership and a crime to
advocate municipal control of public utilities.
The municipal ownership of railroads would naturally require or
demand a revolution in public carriage and commerce. It has passed
to that stage where it *s doubtful whether the government could make
the transfer without serious inconvenience to the public and an
upheaval in the departments.
With the great power of men and money at its disposal, what might be
the result of nationalizing the great trunk line system of this
country? The time is past when such a project can be attempted with
impunity and leave the results to be regulated by succeeding events.
It is a serious question and one that but few attempt to solve. The
government has assumed control of these by an inter-state commerce
law that will best control and care for the welfare of all
concerned. It is late—too late to talk of Government Ownership; that
should have been years ago.
The smaller public utilities, however, demand immediate attention.
They are growing fast and waxing strong and aggressive. They consist
of street and inter-urban lines, waterworks, gas works and electric
plants. A law exists in Illinois prohibiting cities and villages
from selling gas or electricity. -Many cities have their own plants
to light their own streets and yet they cannot sell the surplus
even. Why ? Because certain influences dominate the political field
and forbid it. The people not only acquiesce in this outrage on
their rights, but reelect the men who defeated the bill that
restored to the people the right to manufacture and use their own
electricity and gas as they now furnish water. The people groan and
sweat under a load of extortionate prices, bad service and
supercilious conduct toward
1096 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
the public, and yet tie themselves year after year by party bonds to
the chariot wheels of these corporations. The country cannot
flourish without these corporate monopolies; it cannot do so long if
their encroachments continue. It is surprising that a free people in
this enlightened age submit to the arrogant manipulation of our laws
by corporate greed. The cry of socialism is misleading. It is the
sophistry of the demagogue who is paid by the corporations that own
him.
The demand for municipal ownership and municipal control is simply a
demand to restore to the people the "King's Highway," the streets
and roadways, Let the uncrowned, yet despotic princes of commerce
turn their chariot wheels aside and not run over or into every poor
man's vehicle in the way. Let us return to the principles that have
controlled commerce in every age, let the nation, at least, have
control of public thoroughfares and protect every man who travels
them. Let the republic give us a highway of commerce as free and
safe as the "King's Highway."
JAMES FULTON PERCY,
M. D.
Determination, energy, natural aptitude and a life long devotion to
the highest professional ideals are the qualities which have placed
James Fulton Percy in a prominent position, not only among the
members of the medical fraternity in Illinois but in the nation as
well. His whole professional career and his advance have been based
upon a mastery of medicine and surgery as a science. These
characteristics have placed him in the position that he now
occupies.
Dr. Percy was born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, March 26, 1864. The
ancestral history in the paternal line is traced back to France, in
the year 1100 and the name was written De Percy. In less remote
generations the ancestry has become largely Scotch-Irish. The
great-grandfather, Francis Percy, was born in Belfast, County
Antrim, Ireland, but he was connected directly with the house of
Percy to which belonged the distinguished Percy, Earl of
Northumberland, whose deeds have filled many a page of English
history. Another of the great-grandfathers of Dr. Percy was Stafford
Wilson, who was born, lived and died, at Gatside, in County Antrim,
where was also the birthplace of his daughter, Isabel, who became
the wife of the paternal grandfather of Dr. Percy. His father, James
Percy, was born in Soho, Essex county, New Jersey, and wedded Sarah
Ann Fulton, a native of New York city and the daughter of James
Fulton, who was born in County Downs, Ireland. The last named wedded
Mary Rogers, who was a native of County Antrim, having been born
within the shadow of Gilhall Castle. Her grandparents were
McCormicks. James Fulton, for whom Dr. Percy was named, went out
from New York city, where he had made his home, as a contractor
under the French in the building of the Panama Canal. He lost his
life there from yellow fever—that scourge which brought defeat to
the French project. His wife, Mary Fulton, removed with her five
children to Oronoco, Minnesota, securing a homestead claim there in
pioneer times. She died in the state hospital at Rochester,
Minnesota, at an advanced age. Her daughter, Sarah Ann, became the
wife of James Percy. He was a contractor,
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1099, Illinois
becoming well known as a builder of flour mills, woolen mills and
veneer sawmills. He constructed many such plants in the middle west.
Dr. Percy attended the public schools of Bloomfield, New Jersey,
until fourteen years of age when because of ill health he was sent
by his parents to Minnesota with the hope that a change of climate
would prove beneficial. While in that state he attended the public
schools of Oronoco and of Rochester. It was at the latter place that
he met W. J. and C. H. Mayo, who have since become world-renowned
surgeons. The acquaintance formed at that time has ripened into a
friendship that has not diminished as the years have passed. After
this period spent in the public schools of Minnesota, during which
time he regained his health, Dr. Percy went to New York city where
he pursued a four years' course in the Bellevue Hospital Medical
College. This was at a time when the law required but two years in a
medical school in order to obtain a license to practice. It is
believed that Dr. Percy was the first medical student in this
country who took a four years consecutive graded course. He was
graduated in 1886 and was honored with the presidency of his class.
At the time of his graduation he was offered by Dr. Joseph D. Bryant
of New York city, the family physician of President Cleveland, the
position of surgeon to the Rhode Island Hospital at Providence,
Rhode Island. After seriously considering the offer for some weeks
Dr. Percy declined on the ground that he had not sufficient
experience either with the world of life or the medical world in
order to be fully qualified to accept so responsible a position.
Following his graduation in New York Dr. Percy went to Minnesota and
located for practice in Mazeppa where he remained for two years. His
practice grew rapidly and reached extensive proportions; realizing
that he could practice with a measure of success and that if he was
ever to change his residence it should be done early in his
professional career, he resolved to come to Gales-burg. While living
in the north he had formed the acquaintance of the Rev. J. W.
Bradshaw, pastor of the "Brick" Congregational church of Galesburg.
On the occasion of his single meeting with the Rev. Mr. Bradshaw the
latter incidentally mentioned his home city as a desirable place of
residence. When he had decided to make a change in his place of
residence Dr. Percy remembered the praise given this city by Mr.
Bradshaw and visited Galesburg only to be told by the minister that
he could not hope for any success here because the field was
overcrowded and he "would starve to death" if he located here. Dr.
Percy, however, saw an opportunity that the good minister could not
see and subsequent events have amply vindicated his judgment. It has
been a characteristic of the Doctor that he does his own thinking
and bases his conduct on his own judgment. Indeed, his position as a
representative of the profession is further indicated in the fact
that he has been honored with the presidency of the Illinois State
Medical Society. His success gradually grew and he has today
probably the finest physician's office in the world under one
management. Viewed from a practical and artistic standpoint it
certainly approaches perfection. It contains twenty-two rooms and in
connection therewith but in a separate building he has probably the
finest private laboratory in the state. Dr. Percy has done much
post-graduate work in New York, Philadelphia and Boston. He spent
six months in the state hospital at Braunschweig, Germany, under the
famous surgeon, Professor Sprengel. During the same year he also
spent six
1100 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
months with the equally famous surgeon, Professor Dr. Kraske, in
Freiburg, Baden. While in that place Dr. Percy also studied
pathology under Professor Zeigler, one of the world famous teachers
of that subject. Fie obtained his first experience in abdominal
surgery in the Chicago Veterinary College under Professor Fred Byron
Robinson. Fie did this with the idea of not subjecting the human
being to his inexperience when valuable experience could so easily
be gained on the lower animals. Fie has continually advanced in
skill and efficiency in the practice of both medicine and surgery
and the eminent position which he now occupies has been well won.
Fie is a valued member of various medical and scientific societies.
Fie was president of the Military Tract Medical Society in 1892,
became a member of the Chicago Gynecological Society in 1904 and was
president of the Illinois State Medical Society in 1907. He is also
a member of the Western Surgical Association. He called the first
meeting out of which grew the Galesburg Hospital, now an institution
of eighty-five beds. A meeting was held February 9, 1891, and the
hospital was formally opened on the 5th of July, 1893. Fie is
serving as the Illinois representative of the National Legislative
Council of the American Medical Association for 1912-13. He had held
the chair of surgery and surgical clinics in the College of
Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, in 1898, and it was there
that he learned the futility of a medical school trying to teach
medicine as a science and paying professors and the running expenses
of the school from the fees of the students. At the end of the
college year, therefore, he resigned. Fie afterward served as a
member and in 1911 was made chairman of the committee on medical
education in the Illinois State Medical Society. While chairman of
this committee he read a paper at Aurora at the Illinois meeting of
this society which set forth the deplorably low grade of all but
three of the many medical schools of Chicago. This report
accomplished for medical education in Illinois what the Flexner
report did in exposing the almost uniformly low grade of medical
school methods in the entire country. Fie stands at all times for
high ideals which find practical fulfillment in the service rendered
by the profession to the public. Dr. Percy has written many articles
on surgery which have attracted wide attention and have contributed
to the advancement of the profession along that line. Fie has been a
member of the council of the Illinois State Medical Society for
eighteen years and he was secretary of the section on the practice
of medicine of that society in 1894. He limits his practice to
general surgery.
Dr. Percy is a member of the University Club of Chicago and has a
wide acquaintance among prominent residents of the state. Aside from
professional lines he has written largely upon sociological subjects
and has made a close study of conditions bearing thereon. His
standards of life in every relation are high. He seeks that which
contributes to the world's progress as well as to the individual
advancement. The wide acquaintance and prominence which he has
gained through his professional ability have made him known
throughout the country and stand in contradiction to the prediction
of Dr. Bryant of New York city who, when Dr. Percy declined to
accept the position at Providence, Rhode Island, remarked, "Yes, and
this is the last we will ever hear of James Percy."
Dr. Percy was married on June 12, 1888, to Miss Josephine L.
Robinson, the only child of Prosper and Katharine Robinson of
Mazeppa, Minnesota, the former a merchant of large financial
interests in the southern part of that state.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1101, Illinois
Dr. and Mrs. Percy now have one child, a daughter, Katharine, who
was born in Galesburg, September 4, 1891, and is at present
occupying the chair of domestic science and household economics in
Hedding College at Abingdon.
When Dr. Percy located in Galesburg in February, 1888, there was a
strong sentiment in favor of the union of the two Congregational
churches which existed within a half block of each other. This
sentiment crystallized in the Doctor's Bible class and resulted in
the calling of the meeting at his home which was largely attended by
members of both churches. The sentiment was strongly in favor of the
union but as the "Old First" church had extended a call to the Rev.
Dr. Sherrill the final union which occurred subsequently was not
consummated at that time. Dr. and Mrs. Percy greatly interested
themselves and were the prime movers in the establishment of the
East Knox Street Congregational church which was dedicated June 23,
1895. Out of this work grew the establishment of the East Main
Street Congregational church. From the foregoing it will be seen
that a spirit of broad humanitarianisms has actuated Dr. Percy in all
of his relations throughout his entire life.
JOHN WILLSIE.
John Willsie is a locomotive engineer on the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy Railroad and resides at No. 1432 East Knox street, Galesburg.
He was born in this city August 13, 1867, and is a son of Horace and
Betsey (Nichols) Willsie, natives of Canada and of New York
respectively. The father was a son of John Willsie, also a native of
Canada, whose family numbered nine children of whom three are
living, Milo, George and Asa. Among those deceased were Charity,
Julia and Polly. The maternal grandfather of Mr. Willsie was Alfred
Nichols whose wife was Eliza (Felt) Nichols. Both were natives of
New York but became early settlers of Galesburg, where Mr. Nichols
conducted a hotel on the present site of the Metropolitan block. He
lived to old age but his wife died in middle age. Of their children
three are now living, namely: Betsey; Louise, the wife of William
Cobb, of Schoolcraft, Michigan; and Le Roy Nichols, also of that
place. The first named became the wife of Horace Willsie, who
resided near Perry's Mills, in Canada until twelve years of age.
When a young man he came to the United States and settled in Marion,
Iowa, where he engaged in clerking in a store. He then removed to
Missouri where he did railroad contracting. In 1853 he came to
Galesburg and clerked in a store while subsequently he conducted a
livery stable. He also served as city marshal and as sheriff,
remaining in public office for fifteen years, and later he carried
on a livery business. At the time of the
Civil war he enlisted in defense of the Union, becoming captain of
his company and winning promotion to the rank of colonel. He
recruited two or three companies in Galesburg where he was a man of
influence and of prominence. He died June 17, 1906, at the venerable
age of seventy-nine years, respected and honored by all who knew
him. His wife, who was born in 1839.
1102 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
still survives him. She holds membership in the Methodist church, to
which Mr. Willsie also belonged and his life was ever honorable and
upright in harmony with his professions. They had four sons and one
daughter, all of whom were born in Galesburg, as follows: Wilbur F.;
Horace N.; Alfred N.; John; and Daisy, the wife of Edwin Kulp.
John Willsie was reared in Galesburg and attended the public
schools, his course there being supplemented by five terms of study
in Lombard University. He afterward worked at the machinist's trade
for four and a half years and then turned his attention to
railroading as fireman on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy. He spent
ten years in that way and during the past twelve years has been
locomotive engineer, capably filling this position of
responsibility. He is most careful in the discharge of all of his
duties, realizing that human life depends upon his watchfulness and
fidelity, and he has made for himself a most creditable position
among the trusted representatives of the road.
Mr. Willsie was married February 2, 1890, to Miss Juniata Stiers, a
daughter of James and Martha (Cornell) Stiers. Mrs. Willsie was born
in Woodhull, Illinois, July 11, 1870. Her paternal grandfather,
Ralph Stiers, was a native of Germany. He married Catharine Foraker
and both lived to old age, dying near Cambridge, Ohio. The maternal
grandfather of Mrs. Willsie was William Cornell who was born in
London, England, and wedded Agnes Jeffers. They were early settlers
of Ohio, living near Cambridge and Marietta, and Mrs. Cornell died
in that, state. Her husband afterward established his home upon a
farm near Wood-hull in Henry county, Illinois, but later returned to
Ohio. Their children were Mary, Martha, Harrison, Hannah, Cynthia,
James and Joseph.
James Stiers, the father of Mrs. Willsie, was born in Pennsylvania
and wedded Martha Cornell, a native of Ohio. They became early
residents of Woodhull, Illinois, and afterward removed to Peoria,
where Mr. Stiers died July 6, 1909, at the age of eighty-one years.
His wife still survives at the age of sixty-eight years. They were
the parents of ten children of whom eight are now living, Velbert O.,
Wallace R., Flora E., Juniata F., Ona L., Fred L., Clay B. and
Thurlow S.
Unto Mr. and Mrs. Willsie was born but one child, Marjorie N., who is
now a student in the Art Institute of Chicago. Both Mr. and Mrs.
Willsie are well known in Galesburg. The former is a member of the
Odd Fellows society and the latter holds membership in the
Presbyterian church.
DANIEL WILLIAM
SHEAHAN.
During the many years in which Daniel William Sheahan was connected
with the agricultural interests of Knox county he was numbered among
the progressive and intelligent farmers of this county. . His birth
occurred on the 15th of August, 1843, at Saratoga, New York, and he
was a son of John and Margaret (Goodwin) Sheahan. The father was
born in County Kerry, Ireland, on the 19th of February, 1819. Pie
came to this country alone, his wife having been injured while
boarding the vessel at Queenstown. lie arrived at New York in 1843
and immediately went to Saratoga, where he engaged in farming, his
wife
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1103, Illinois
arriving seven weeks later. In 1855 ^r- Sheahan removed to Altona,
Illinois, with his wife and three children. From that town they
walked to the eighty acres of land which he had purchased in Copley
township and there they took up farming. Subsequently they removed
to Lynn township and in 1870 began farming on the old Heaton farm.
After living on that property for many years he retired and removed
to Galva, where his death occurred on the 27th of April, 1904. Mrs.
Sheahan, who was a daughter of Richard and Mazie (Murphy) Goodwin,
died at the age of seventy-seven years, on the 19th of February,
1897.
Daniel W. Sheahan removed to Altona with his parents when but a
child. After he finished his education in the district schools he
was employed as a laborer by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy
Railroad for one summer. Subsequently he farmed for his father until
he enlisted at Oneida, Illinois, in Company I, One Hundred and
Second Illinois Infantry, on the 24th of July, 1862. He was one of
the first to enlist, his captain being the late E. E. Conger, who
later was minister to China. Mr. Sheahan won rapid promotion and
after serving as first sergeant became first lieutenant. His most
important service was under Sherman on the march to the sea. He was
mustered out on the 4th of June, 1865. Returning home, he entered
Bryant & Stratton Business College in Chicago and took a thorough
commercial course in that institution. Later he took up agricultural
pursuits at Oneida and subsequently at Galva. He remained thus
engaged until 1873, when he left with his family for Clay Center,
Nebraska. In 1881 he again returned to Illinois and located upon the
property which was his home at the time of his death. During the
latter part of his life he gave up his activities and lived retired,
the competence which he had earned earlier in life affording him the
necessities and comforts in his later years.
Mr. Sheahan was married August 20, 1866, to Miss Sarah Jane Brown,
whose birth occurred near Chicago, in Dupage county, on the 22d of
December, 1845, her parents being Mr. and Mrs. William Brown. To Mr.
and Mrs. Sheahan ten children were born. Adelaide, the eldest, is
the wife of E. S. Potter, of Galva. John P. is residing on the home
farm. Pie married Miss Wilbur and to their union one child, Daniel,
has been born. William W. is married to Iona Fuller. To their union
two children, Gladys and Anita, have been born. Albert G., who is
living in California, is married to Bessie Masterson, and to their
union one child, Marie, has been born. Mary E., who is the wife of
William F. Sipes, is residing in Missouri. Catherine is deceased.
James F. makes his home in Galva. Frances A. is a caterer at Galva
and local correspondent for the Galesburg Register. Florence, her
twin sister, is deceased. Daniel E., the youngest of the family, is
an auctioneer. Mr. Sheahan's death occurred on the 25th of February,
1911. Throughout his life he had been one of the most active
promoters of any measures, undertakings or organizations which were
started for civic or social development and welfare. Pie was one of
the promoters and the secretary of the Grange of Walnut Creek and
Knox districts for nine years and was also a director of the Knox
County Fire Insurance Company, an office to which one of his sons
has fallen heir.
Much of his time and effort were given to the public welfare and he
was a powerful factor in the democratic party in the township, which
often sought and heeded his counsel. He served for twelve years as
the town clerk and for four
1104 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
as assessor, with credit to himself and to the satisfaction of his
constituents. To such a man as Mr. Sheahan the community owes a debt
of gratitude for the activities which he both supported and actively
assisted during his lifetime. Much of the progress of the community
in which he lived was due to the impetus which it received from him.
His friends and neighbors—and they are many—found him to be a loyal
citizen, a progressive agriculturist and a man of the strictest
integrity.
WALTER WATSON
WHIPPLE.
Walter Watson Whipple, city editor of the Galesburg Evening Mail,
entered upon his present connection with journalistic interests in
Knox county in 1910, but also received his initial newspaper
experience in this city and the impetus gained in early life has
carried him forward to his present position. With the exception of a
brief period spent in the west he has always been a resident of
Illinois, his birth having occurred in Birmingham township, Schuyler
county, April 11, 1880. His parents are Herman Oscar and Anne Estelle
(Lawton) Whipple. The ancestry of the Whipple family can be traced
back in direct line through eight generations to Captain John
Whipple, who was born in Milford, Wales, in 1617. lie came to
America when a young man and was married in Massachusetts. The
Whipple family then remained in New England until Edward Whipple,
grandfather of W. W. Whipple, removed to Illinois, coming to this
state from Vermont. Captain John Whipple was a contemporary of Roger
Williams and on his arrival in the new world first settled in Rhode
Island. In the Lawton line the ancestry can be traced back to 1630,
in which year occurred the birth of John Lawton, probably in
Connecticut. Herman O. Whipple, the father, was born in Illinois and
is now a well-to-do farmer and stock raiser. His wife was born in
Massachusetts.
In the district schools near Plymouth, Illinois, Walter W. Whipple
pursued his studies to the age of ten years and afterward attended
the graded and high schools in Plymouth, followed by a five years'
course in Knox College, of Galesburg, from which he was graduated A.
B. with the class of 1903. He resided on the home farm until he had
completed his college course and then took up newspaper reporting
for the Daily Republican Register, at Galesburg. That he seemed to
have entered a field for which he had natural aptitude and ability
was evidenced in the fact that he was made city editor in 1905. In
1907-8-9 he did newspaper reporting and handled the state news for
the Denver Republican, at Denver, Colorado, but in 1910 returned to
Galesburg and has since been city editor of the Galesburg Evening
Mail, his efforts contributing largely to the success of the paper
which is regarded as one of the leading journals of the Military
Tract.
On the 9th of June, 1907, at Bloomington, Nebraska, Mr. Whipple was
united in marriage to Miss Maud Olivia Scogland, a daughter of
Charles J. and Emily Scogland, of Galesburg, but the former died in
1900. Mrs. Whipple was educated in the schools of this city, being
graduated from the high school with the class of 1897.
Mr. Whipple gives his political support to the republican party and
the columns of the paper which he edits advocates its principles, so
that his influence in this
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1107, Illinois
connection is of no restricted order. He has an interesting military
chapter in his life history as a member of Battery B, First
Artillery, Illinois National Guard, with which he served from 1900
until 1903. He belongs to the Congregational church and his social
nature finds expression in his membership in the Country Club. Fie
has never sought to figure prominently in any public relation and is
perhaps not widely known in the state outside of the newspaper guild
but in his home city sterling and attractive traits of character
have firmly established him in the regard of his fellow townsmen.
AXEL GABRIELSON.
Called to the office of assistant cashier in the Farmers & Mechanics
Bank of Galesburg in 1906, Axel Gabrielson has made for himself a
creditable position in the business circles of his native city. He
was born March 4, i860, a son of Andrew G. and Maria C. Gabrielson.
The father was born July 15, 1822, and died August 26, 1904, while
the mother, whose birth occurred January 20, 1818, passed away
December 27, 1899. They emigrated from Ostergot-land, Sweden, to
America in 1857, reaching Galesburg in July. The father was a
carpenter by trade and was employed by the G. W. Brown Company and
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad Company to the time of his
retirement from business. In his family were five children: Mrs.
Minnie Anderson, who lived in Binghamton, New York, but is now
deceased; John A., a resident of Stromsburg, Nebraska; Mrs. Annie
Swanson, of Brooklyn, New York; Charles D., a resident of Salem,
Oregon; and Axel, of this review.
The last named was a pupil in the public schools of Galesburg, also
in Knox Academy and in the high school at Binghamton, New York. His
specifically literary education being completed he then began
preparation for the ministry as a student in the Swedish Methodist
Theological Seminary at St. Paul, Minnesota. However, much of his
life has been devoted to business pursuits. He was employed for four
years by the E. F. Thomas Dry Goods Company and for four years in
the millinery store of F. N. Gay. He spent eleven years successively
in the Second National Bank, Farmers and Mechanics Bank and The Bank
of Galesburg and in 1889 organized the Bank of Galesburg, of which
he was the first cashier, occupying that position for three years or
until he resigned to enter the ministry of the church. While engaged
in preaching the gospel he acted as pastor of Methodist churches in
Wataga, Bishop Hill and Peoria, and for six years was Sunday school
missionary in Henry county, Illinois. For the past six years he has
been assistant cashier of the Farmers & Mechanics Bank, thus
resuming active relations with financial interests in Galesburg, his
previous experience along this line well qualifying him for his
present responsibilities.
On the 25th of May, 1886, in Stoughton, Wisconsin, Mr. Gabrielson
was married to Miss Christina Myron, a daughter of Ole O. and Karina
Myron. Her father was born August 21, 1825, and died June 22, 1893.
The mother, born in 1827, passed away in 1867. Mr. Myron was a
shoemaker by trade and
1120 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
supply for the city. The offer was refused. Finally the heirs sold
the property to the Burlington road for their water supply and they
changed the name to Lake Rice. It is not denied or questioned that
the most public-spirited man that Galesburg ever had was George W.
Brown. It is further not denied or questioned that George W. Brown
made many valuable donations to public enterprises, especially to
religious and educational institutions, and yet, singular to say,
with all that, no place has been dedicated to his name, no effort
made to assist the citizens of Galesburg in preserving the memory of
a man whose works for thirty years contributed the largest revenues
the city ever had, with the exception of the Chicago, Burlington &
Quincy Railroad. The great achievements of George W. Brown in a
business way will long survive his memory as a great and good
citizen. In the past Galesburg has failed to realize what she has
lost but his name and good works will be a monument to his memory
for years to come.
RILEY ROOT.
In the history of the pioneers of Knox county it is imperative that
mention be made of
Riley Root who arrived at Log City in the latter part of July, 1836.
From that time forward until his death he was closely associated,
save for a brief period, with the development and progress of this
part of the state. His talents were varied and along many
lines he displayed more than ordinary ability. Lie was an inventor
whose ideas have become practical in mechanical circles, and he
possessed talents of seemingly diverse nature in that he was a
musician of considerable skill and ability. His impress for good was
also felt along many other lines and Galesburg has reason to honor
him as one of her worthy and valued early settlers. Lie was born at
Durham, Greene county, New York, August 29, 1795, and passed away
February 24, 1870. He was descended from good old Anglo-Saxon stock,
his ancestry being traced back directly to John Root who emigrated
to America from Badby, England, in the year 1630. Ten years later he
married Miss Mary Kilbourne who came to America in 1635. They
settled in Farmington, Connecticut, and became the progenitors of
the family whose representatives for many generations continued to
reside in New England. Thomas Root, the father of Riley Root, was
born in Westfield, Massachusetts, September 25, 1765, and died at
Camden, New York, January 22, 1826. Lie was married in Westfield,
Massachusetts, February 10, 1791, to Princess Noble, who was born in
Westfield, May 8, 1766, and died at Camden, New York, April 5, 1830.
At the time of their marriage they removed to Durham, Greene county,
New York, where Thomas Root purchased a farm on which he resided
until 1821. He then bought land in Camden and removed to that place
where he and his wife continued to reside until called to their
final rest. They were the parents of live children, Roland, Mrs.
Clarissa Phelps, Riley, Reuben and Royal.
Riley Root early developed traits of character that foreshadowed
upright purpose and honorable manhood. He remained with his parents
upon the home farm through the period of his youth and his
educational advantages were somewhat limited but he attended the
district school as opportunity offered.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1123
This however, did not satisfy his thirst for knowledge. So anxious
was he to increase his fund of information that, in an age when
books were very scarce he kept a dictionary on the mantel and
utilized every spare moment in poring over its pages. He thus stored
his mind with many valuable bits of knowledge and such was his
mental power that he was able to systematize these and use the
information at will. In early youth he was a pupil in the Westfield
(Mass.) Academy for a time, there preparing for teaching and also
pursuing a course in surveying. For many years he taught school and
displayed particular ability in imparting readily and clearly to
others the knowledge he had acquired. In 1821 he purchased a farm at
Camden, New York, and resided thereon until 1836 but spent much time
in the interim in surveying in addition to performing the work of
the fields. In 1835, when a company was organized for the purpose of
building a college town in what was then considered the far west, he
became one of the number and in the latter part of July, 1836,
arrived at Log City, Knox county, Illinois. Possessing expert
mechanical ability he aided in erecting the first house in Galesburg
and also assisted largely in the building of the old First church.
In 1837 he procured some big stones and at his own fireside, with
the aid of only a small chisel and hammer, he shaped these into
millstones. Then in company with another, he erected a horse-power
gristmill, and thus furnished the only means for the colonists
within a radius of fifty miles to get their grain ground until a
waterpower mill, known as Olmstead's mill, near .Monmouth, was
erected. He continued an active factor in the work of progress and
development here until April, 1848, when, in company with others,
he traveled in a train of twenty-five wagons drawn by oxen, overland
for Oregon, arriving at his destination in the autumn. In the
following spring he went to California where gold had just been
discovered. He remained for some time searching for the precious
metal but ill health forced him to return home and taking the route
via the Isthmus of Panama and New Orleans he arrived in Knox county
on the 8th of January, 1850, being the first man to return from the
gold fields of California. Upon his return he wrote a book
concerning his travels, giving a graphic account of the trip and a
description of the processes of mining gold on the Pacific coast.
Pie possessed considerable literary ability and in 1866 he wrote a
treatise on musical philosophy and made a keyboard to illustrate the
transposition of the scale. He was very fond of music and during his
later years devoted much time to the study of the art. He was
recognized as a musician of much more than ordinary skill although
he shrank from appearing in public as an interpreter of the art.
With only the simple tools at his command he made, working at his
own fireside a violin of such excellent tone and quality that it was
purchased by one of Galesburg's leading musicians. His skill along
mechanical lines was variously shown and he gave to the world a
number of valuable inventions. In 1857 he secured a patent for the
first rotary fan blower—a machine for clearing the snow from the
railroad tracks. The device proved successful beyond his
expectations, but through lack of funds he was unable to demonstrate
its usefulness to the skeptical public and the officials of the new
railroad enterprise who could not grasp the importance of such a
machine. The patent therefore was allowed to expire. Later the
efficiency of his invention became apparent to officials of western
roads, and today his principle is employed in the machines for
clearing
1124 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
the tracks where the greatest snow blockades occur. About the time
he was perfecting his snow plow he secured the patent on a device
for holding a spirit level in surveying, besides a number of other
patents of value. He ordered made the first glass fruit jars ever
used. They were closed with corks and sealed with wax and held four
and six quarts. He also devised a magnetic battery and took magnetic
treatments in his own home. Whenever he realized a need it seemed he
could meet it by reason of his superior inventive skill and
ingenuity.
On the 7th of October, 1821, Mr. Root was united in marriage to Miss
Lavinia Butler who was born at Durham, New York, April 9, 1803, and
died at Camden that state on the 25th of June, 1834. Five children
were born to them but only two, Dency Elizabeth and Clarissa Noble,
reached years of maturity. During his later years Mr. Root lived a
more retired life, dividing his time between his two daughters. To
him was accorded the precious prize of keen mentality to the last,
and his physical powers were also but slightly impaired in the
closing years of his life. In 1870 he walked two miles on a bitter
cold day, notwithstanding the protest of his daughters, to obtain
castings for a steel sphere to be magnetized —a work which had not
then been accomplished. He contracted a severe cold which brought on
pneumonia and he passed away three days later.
Mr. Root was always a man of retired disposition and of few words.
He spent his leisure in research along many scientific lines and
remained a student to the last. Few college-bred men possessed as
comprehensive a knowledge of scientific laws and principles, and in
addition, Mr. Root was a man of more than ordinary literary
attainments. During his travels, which covered many sections of the
country, he gathered many choice curios and rare geological
specimens. Although more than four decades have passed since he was
called from this life it is well known that his contributions to the
world's work were valuable, and some of these have not yet reached
their full fruition. As the pioneer inventor of the rotary snow
plow, who can measure how great is the influence and result of his
work or who can estimate how much suffering as well as delay in time
has been prevented by the use of this device which he brought forth
? His investigation and researches along scientific lines were ever
a stimulus to others. Death gives the perspective which places man
in his true relations with his fellows and his age, and in this
instance indicates clearly how far reaching in its efforts was the
life of one of Galesburg's most honored pioneers.
FRANK E. JOHNSON.
Frank E. Johnson, proprietor of the Johnson Fuel Company located at
646 Chambers street, Galesburg, was born in this city on the 7th of
March, 1868. His parents were Andrew F. and Anna (Peterson) Johnson,
both natives of Westergotland, Sweden. There the father, whose birth
occurred on Christmas day, 1823, learned the carpenter's trade and
he also served in the Swedish army. Both parents emigrated to the
United States in 1852, locating in Galesburg, where they were
subsequently married. Andrew F. Johnson was a skilled mechanic, and
for many years was successfully engaged in carpentry work and
contracting, thus acquiring a competence that enabled him to spend
his latter
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1127, Illinois
days in retirement. He passed away in November, 1899, at the age of
almost seventy-six years. Both parents held membership in the
Swedish Lutheran church, which the father erected in 1868, and for
many years, he was one of its officers. In his political views he
was a republican. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Johnson numbered four,
of whom our subject is the youngest. The others were as follows:
Charles F., who is deceased; Tillie M., who is at home; and Oscar
F., who died in infancy.
The education of Frank E. Johnson was begun in the public schools
and completed by a commercial course in Brown's Business College.
After laying aside his text-books, he worked with his father at the
carpenter's trade for seven years, and then entered the employ of
the Simpson Lumber Company. For fifteen years he held the position
of manager of the latter enterprise, and during that time he bought
out the business he is now conducting, which was founded by Cline &
Shaw. In 1908 he gave up his position with the lumber company and
has ever since given his undivided attention to the development of
his fuel business. It has made a very substantial growth since he
undertook its management three years ago, and gives the most
gratifying assurance of prospering. He carries both hard and soft
coal as well as coke and wood and every other variety of fuel,
maintaining both a wholesale and retail department. Mr. Johnson is
the type of man who makes anything he undertakes succeed, having
not only the enterprise and industry but the determination of
purpose that refuses to recognize defeat.
In this city on the 6th of October, 1896, Mr. Johnson was united in
marriage to Miss J. Pauline Anderson, a daughter of Hans and Hannah
Anderson, and they have become the parents of two daughters, Helen
Frances and Ruth Margaret.
Both Mr. and Mrs. Johnson are members of the First Swedish Lutheran
church. His fraternal relations are with the order of Odd Fellows
and the Benevolent Protective Order of Elks. His connections with
organizations of a more purely social nature are confined to the
Galesburg and Country Clubs, while he keeps in touch with his fellow
business men through the medium of the Retail Merchants Association.
His political support is given to the republican party, but he has
never sought public honors, preferring to give his entire time and
attention to the promotion of his business interests. The Johnson
Fuel Company was founded on the 4th of July, 1903, and its
development must be entirely attributed to his clear judgment,
sagacity and unceasing effort.
THOMAS
McCLELLAND, D. D, LL. D.
Thomas McClelland, D. D., LL. D., was called to the presidency of
Knox College in 1900. He has sustained during his administration its
high reputation —it being one of the oldest colleges in the state.
He was born in Quilly, County Derry, Ireland, May 1, 1846. His
parents were William and Margaret (Smiley) McClelland, the former a
teacher of considerable experience. The family on both sides comes
of Scotch ancestry.
Doctor McClelland was only three years of age when brought by his
parents to the new world. He early displayed special aptitude in his
studies and his
1128 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
fondness for learning led him to continue his education beyond the
public schools. He prepared for college in Denmark Academy, Denmark,
Iowa, and was graduated from Oberlin College in 1875 with the degree
of Bachelor of Arts. Eight years later, his alma mater conferred
upon him the degree of Master of Arts. In the meantime, he had been
a student in the Oberlin Theological Seminary in 1876-7, and in the
Union Theological Seminary, in 1877-8, and in 1880, he was graduated
from the Andover (Mass.) Theological Seminary, having thus
thoroughly qualified for the ministry. However, his work has been
mostly done in the college class room, rather than in the pulpit. In
1880, he accepted the position of professor of philosophy at Tabor
College, where he remained until 1891. In the fall of that year, he
became president of the Pacific University of Oregon, where he
continued until 1900. In September of the latter year, he was called
to the presidency of Knox College. During his administration, the
college has made most gratifying progress, both in its educational
standing and in its material and financial resources.
On the 19th of August, 1880, in Denmark, Iowa, Doctor McClelland was
married to Miss Harriet C. Day and by this union three children were
born to them, Kellogg Day, Cochran Bruce and Ruth Marjory.
Doctor McClelland has become widely known in educational circles. In
1891, Tabor College conferred upon him the degree of Doctor of
Divinity. In 1905, the University of Illinois honored him with the
degree of Doctor of Law. He has been a trustee of the Carnegie
Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching since its establishment
in 1905.
CHARLES ALFRED
HINCKLEY.
Charles Alfred Hinckley at one time lived on a farm that embraced
the district between Seminary and Chambers streets in Galesburg and
north of Grove street and the fields which he once cultivated are
converted into a thickly populated and splendidly improved district
of that city. With the history of Knox county from pioneer times he
was closely associated, arriving here in 1846—the year in which he
attained his majority. He was born January 23, 1825, in Meredith,
Delaware county, New York, and was descended from Samuel Hinckley,
who came of good English stock, and was born at Tenderden, in the
county of Kent, England, in 1595. He brought his family to the new
world, accompanied by Nathaniel Tilden, an ancestor of Governor
Samuel J. Tilden, of political fame. They embarked on the sailing
ship Hercules, a vessel of two hundred tons, in 1634, sailing from
Sandwich, the seaport of Kent, and several months later reached
Boston, taking up their abode at Scituate, about twenty miles from
Boston. Later they removed to Barnstable, where the parents died.
Their youngest son was John Hinckley, the founder of the branch of
the family to which Charles A. Hinckley, of Galesburg, belonged. He
settled in Stonington, Connecticut. Mrs. Hannah (Wheeler) Hinckley,
the grandmother of Charles A. Hinckley, was a descendant of John
Howland, of the Plymouth colony. Alfred Hinckley, the father of
Charles A. Hinckley, was born in Berne, Albany county, New York,
December 6, 1799, and died at Galesburg, March 10, 1888. He followed
agricultural pursuits and also conducted a sawmill in
New York.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1129, Illinois
In that state he married Eliza Stanley Van Devort, who was born in Cork,
Ireland, June 25, 1797, and died in Galesburg, March 4, 1874. Mrs.
Hinckley had been brought to America by her parents in 1799, when
about two years of age. The voyage, undertaken by a sailing vessel,
was a stormy one and it was feared that they would riot reach their
destination. During one severe storm the mother put her two little
daughters in a wooden chest and locked them in so that in case the
boat sunk they would not be devoured by sharks. Mrs. Hinckley was
reared in the Empire state and in Delaware county, March 23, 1824,
gave her hand in marriage to Alfred Hinckley. The year 1846
witnessed their removal to Illinois, at which time they settled on a
farm south of Knoxville, but later removed to Galesburg. In their
family were six children, Charles Alfred, Mary Eliza, George
Wheeler, William Stanley, Francis Edward and Harriett Amelia. Of
these Mary E. and George W. are still living.
Like many other boys of his day the opportunities which Charles
Alfred Hinckley had for obtaining an education were quite limited.
He spent the three months' winter term as a pupil in the district
schools while the remainder of the year was devoted to hauling logs
to his father's sawmill or to the work of the farm. When sixteen or
seventeen years of age he secured the position of driver on the
towpath of the Erie canal. When twenty years of age, in company with
his sister Mary he journeyed westward to Illinois, with Knoxville as
his destination. For a time he lived with his uncle, W. H. Holcomb,
where he proved his usefulness in doing any tasks that were assigned
him. For his labor he received the munificent sum of nine dollars
per month, a sum paid him in provisions for the family when they
arrived in Illinois the following spring. During the winter of
1845-6 he carried the mail on horseback from Princeton to Macomb.
The winter was severe with deep snow, and it was not an easy task to
follow the trail over the unbroken prairie, many times through
blinding snow storms. The following spring he rented a farm south of
Knoxville and thus had a home in readiness for his parents and the
other members of the family upon their arrival in June. In 1849 they
removed to Galesburg, renting what was then known as the Kellogg
farm, situated between Seminary and Chambers streets and north of
Grove street. The old barn which they used still remains in about
the middle of the block. In 1852 the family purchased from the
trustees of Knox College a quarter section in the northeast part of
the city. In 1857 he arranged to buy out the interests of the others
of the family in that property and they removed to a farm across the
street to the west, leaving Charles A. Hinckley in possession of the
farm upon which he lived until his death, on the 15th of October,
1910. It was not an easy task to make payments upon the place and
carry on the work of improvement. Many were the vicissitudes,
struggles and trials, but with the encouragement and aid of his
wife, who was judicious in management, far-seeing and helpful, he
paid for the original farm and added something to the first
purchase.
It was in Galesburg, on the 17th of March, 1861, that Mr. Hinckley
was married to Miss Clarissa N. Root, the wedding ceremony being
performed by the Rev. Kingsbury of the First Baptist church. Mrs.
Hinckley is the daughter of Riley and Lavinia (Butler) Root, and was
born in Camden, New York, November 22, 1831. She is one of the few
survivors of the founders of Gales-
1130 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
burg and is at present the only living member in Galesburg of that
memorable canal boat party that came from New York to Illinois by
water, the trip extending over a period of three months through the
heated season of the year, being terminated when they reached Log
City, August 2, 1836. Her father, Riley Root, was born August 29,
1795, and died February 24, 1870. Fie was of good old English stock,
being a descendant of John Root, the emigrant ancestor who came to
America in 1630. The wife of Riley Root was born April 9, 1803, and
passed away June 25, 1834. Five daughters were born of their
marriage but only two, Dency E. and Clarissa N., reached maturity.
The father was a mechanic and inventor of rare ability, bringing out
a number of valuable inventions, the most important of which was a
rotary fan blower, a machine for clearing the snow from the railroad
tracks. The device proved successful but for lack of funds he was
unable to demonstrate its usefulness to the skeptical public and
officials of a new railroad enterprise, and the patent was allowed
to expire. Later its efficiency was noted by officials of the
western roads and today the principle which he used is employed in
machines for clearing the tracks where the greatest snow blockades
occur. In 1837 Mr. Root cut millstones and built a horse-power grist
mill which was the only mill within a radius of fifty miles until
the erection of Olmstead's water-power mill near Monmouth, Illinois.
The Root mill was a great convenience to the settlers, being chiefly
used to grind corn and sorghum. Mr. Root also assisted in erecting
the first house built in the city of Galesburg and in other ways
took a most active and helpful part in promoting public progress and
in laying the foundation for the city's present prosperity.
Mr. and Mrs. Hinckley became the parents of four children: Hilma E.;
Mrs. Ada P. Chapman; Arthur E.; and Alice G. Lavinia, who departed
this life February 20, 1904. In his political views Mr. Hinckley was
a republican from the time of the organization of the party. His
first vote had been cast for General Zachary Taylor. Fie joined the
First Baptist church of Galesburg on its organization and at his
death was its oldest member. Both the Hinckley and the Root families
have taken a very active and helpful part in matters relating to
general progress and improvement in Galesburg and Knox county, and
no history of this section would be complete without according to
them due recognition of what has been done in laying the foundations
for the present development of this part of the state.
JOSEPH THIRLWELL.
When keen business judgment supplements tireless labor the result is
certain. Those qualities were dominant factors in the life of Joseph
Thirlwell and gradually he worked his way upward in the business
world to a place of distinction. He was born at Combhill,
Northumberland, England, July 5, 1827, a son of John and Ruth
Thirlwell. The father died in England after which the mother married
again and with her son Joseph came to America, settling in
Galesburg. They landed on American shores on the 4th of July, 1849,
and made their way direct to Knox county.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
1133
In the meantime Joseph Thirlwell had obtained a fair education in
the common schools of his native town and had learned the stone
mason's trade. After arriving in Galesburg he purchased a farm that
now lies in the outskirts of the city and was a part of the college
grant land. In addition to the cultivation of his fields he worked
at his trade, building culverts on the land of the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy Railroad, then in the course of construction. He
also worked on various buildings in Galesburg. He was a natural
mechanic and very efficient in all tasks of a mechanical nature.
Whatever he did was characterized by thoroughness and this was one
of the elements that brought him success. His first house on his
farm was of frame but he later erected one of brick and that still
stands. Mr. Thirlwell burned the brick for his second building, and
he did much to further the work of improvement upon his homestead.
He was very thrifty, had keen business judgment and was possessed of
unfaltering industry. As the years passed he became interested in
investments and speculation and amassed a fortune. His opinion of
the value of a business proposition was usually sound. He seemed to
know where the most advantageous investments could be made and time
proved the wisdom of his opinions. When he passed away he had many
financial interests and was a director of the First National Bank
and the Farmers & Mechanics Bank, both of Galesburg. He lived and
died on the farm which he purchased on his removal to Knox county,
having in the meantime brought it to a high state of cultivation.
For years it was the "first premium" farm of the county and also won
the cash prize and gold medal at the Illinois State Fair.
In 1876, at Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, Mr. Thirlwell was married
to Miss Charlotte Bullman of England, who died April 23, 1891. The
following year Mr. Thirlwell wedded Miss Caroline Giddings of
Galesburg and for nine years they traveled life's journey happily
together, being separated by the death of Mr. Thirlwell on the 14th
of February, 1901. In politics he was a republican and fraternally
was connected with the Masons. He was domestic in his tastes and
loved his home and fireside, spending his happiest hours there.
While he had membership in no church he was actuated in all he did
by high principles and was a liberal giver to all denominations. Fie
also gave generously to charitable organizations and to the needy
individual, in fact, his hand was ever outreaching in aid and
sympathy to those in distress, and in matters of citizenship he was
public spirited, seeking ever the welfare and best interests of the
community; in a word, he stood for helpfulness and for progress and
he accomplished much good in the span of life allotted him which
covered almost seventy-four years.
CHARLES WESLEY LEFFINGWELL, D. D.
Although Dr. Charles W. Leffingwell has since 1908 made his home in
Pasadena, California, he yet gives a portion of his time to St.
Mary's school at Knoxville, of which he was the founder and of
which he still continues rector. Moreover, he was an honored citizen
of Knox county for forty years and his life's labors have
constituted an important chapter in its history. A man of scholarly
1134
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
attainments, whose talents have been devoted to the work of
assisting and instructing his fellowmen along intellectual and moral
lines, his influence has been of no restricted order, for from the
platform and through the press he has left the impress of his
thought and purpose upon the lives of many. He was born in
Ellington, Connecticut, December 5, 1840, a son of Lyman and Sarah
Chapman (Brown) Leffingwell, both of whom were natives of
Connecticut and were representatives of old families of that state.
The father was a descendant of Lieutenant Thomas Leffingwell, a
leader in the colony which settled in Norwich, Connecticut, about
1637.
Although born in New England, Dr. Leffingwell spent a portion of his
youth in Knox county and was graduated from Knox College in
Galesburg with the class of 1862. In recognition of the excellent
work which he had done in connection with the ministry his alma
mater conferred upon him the Doctor of Divinity degree in 1875. Ere
he pursued his college course he took up the profession of teaching
and was principal of the Galveston Academy in 1859-60. He also
served as deputy surveyor of Galveston county. Following his
graduation from Knox College he became military instructor in the
Poughkeepsie Military Institute, where he remained from 1862 until
1865. In the meantime he had determined to enter upon the active
work of the ministry and was graduated at the Nashotah Theological
Seminary with the class of 1867. The same year he was ordained
deacon and priest and was assigned to the position of assistant
minister of St. James church in Chicago. The following year he
founded St. Mary's school at Knoxville, Illinois, with which he has
been more or less actively connected to the present time. He has
also been rector of the school since 1868. Along varied and
constantly broadening lines his usefulness has extended and in many
fields of labor his work has been a vital element for moral and
intellectual progress. He was connected with St. Alban's school in
1890 and for twenty-one years he was editor and publisher of The
Living Church, a paper published weekly in Chicago to further the
interests of his denomination. In every possible way he has promoted
the growth and extended the influence of his church, being an active
factor in its organized and in its individual efforts. He has been
president of the standing committee of the diocese of Quincy (111.)
since its organization in 1878 and has been deputy to the general
convention since 1877. He has also been secretary and treasurer of
Jubilee College, rector of St. Alban's school since 1890 and visitor
of St. Martha's school of Knoxville. Lie is likewise a trustee of
the Western Theological Seminary at Chicago and is a lecturer on
church history in the Training School for Deaconesses in Los
Angeles, California. lie has likewise proved himself a capable
business man in connection with more material interests, being the
president of the Leffingwell Rancho, Inc., of Whittier, in
California. Along the lines of general progress and improvement he
has likewise been active and especially in the fields of scientific
investigation. lie is a member of the American Geographical Society,
the Chicago Geographic Society, the National Geographic Society and
the Archaeological Institute of America.
In 1862, at Westfield, New York, Dr. Leffingwell was united in
marriage to Miss Elizabeth Francis, daughter of John Francis, who
came from Kent, England, to the new world. The children of this
marriage are: Charles Warring, who married Virginia Rowland, and
resides in Pasadena, California; Ernest De Kovin, an Arctic
explorer; Hortense Nesbit, the wife of Harlan R. Wilson; Gertrude,
the wife of Dr. John Walter Vaughan; and Alice, who became the wife
of Dr. John T. Binkley, of Chicago, and died leaving one child,
Madeline, who is now living with her grandparents. As stated, Dr.
Leffingwell now makes his home in Pasadena, California, although his
various duties, interests and activities call him frequently
elsewhere. Pie belongs to the Valley Hunt Club of Pasadena and the
Annandale Country Club,, but he also still holds membership in the
University Club and the Church Club of Chicago and in the Galesburg
and Knoxville City Clubs. It would be tautological in this
connection to enter into any series of statements showing Dr.
Leffingwell to be a man of broad intelligence and genuine public
spirit, for these have been shadowed forth between the lines of this
review. Strong in his individuality, he never lacks the courage of
his convictions but there are as dominating elements in his
individuality a lively human sympathy and an abiding charity, which,
as taken in connection with the sterling integrity and honor of his
character, have naturally gained for him the respect and confidence
of men.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1135-
PROFESSOR NEHEMIAH H. LOSEY.
Thirty-seven years have passed since Professor Nehemiah H. Losey was
called from this life, and yet Galesburg will never cease to honor
his memory because his work lives on in the lives of those who came
under his teachings and those who have benefited by the instruction
received in Knox College, of which he was one of the founders and
promoters. He was born in Orange county, New York, in 1804, and was
graduated from Middlebury College, Vermont, in that city, with the
class of 1830. Taking up the profession of teaching as a life work,
he was connected with the Potsdam (N. Y.) Academy for a time and
subsequently became a teacher in Whitesboro, New York. While in the
latter place he became interested in the project instituted by the
Rev. Dr. Gale for founding and endowing a Christian college in the
then far west. He became one of the incorporators of Knox College
and a lifelong member of its board of trustees. For seventeen years
he was secretary of the board and for eleven years was its
treasurer. He came to Illinois in the early summer of the year 1836
and surveyed and laid out the town of Galesburg. He then returned to
Michigan for his family and in the fall again reached Knox county
and opened a school at Log City, Henderson Grove, with Miss Lucy Gay
as his assistant. In that school both the common and classical
branches were taught and this constituted the real foundation of
Knox College. In connection with his school duties he served as -
the town's first postmaster, being appointed in 1837 and acting in
that capacity for four years. ■ Pie remained as principal of the
academy until college courses were organized and introduced, at
which time he was elected to the chair of mathematics and natural
philosophy, which position he held until the year 1861, when failing
health compelled him to resign. During the earlier years of the
school he also filled the chair of physics and chemistry and the
progress of the school is indicative of the excellent work which he
did in collaboration with the other teachers of the institution. He
ever held to high ideals in his work, was progressive in his methods
and kept in touch with the advancement continuously being made in
the teachers profession.
1136 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Soon after resigning Professor Losey returned to New York, where he
resided for three years, and then again came to Galesburg. He was
elected to the office of treasurer of the college, which position he
filled to the time of his death in June, 1875.
His political allegiance was given to the republican party and his
religious faith was that of the Presbyterian church. Pie. was one of
the first in the Upper Mississippi valley to plant the seeds of
higher civilization. When Chicago was struggling to maintain its
place as a thriving village he was engaged in the organization and
conduct of a school that in the scope of its work and influence
should be equal to the older institutions of similar character in
the east. Knox College stands as a monument to the labors of such
men and its hundreds of alumni pay tributes of respect and honor to
his memory. He was a man of high ideals, broad culture and a
teacher of eminent ability. Although retiring in disposition, he was
ever genial and amiable, was conscientious in the discharge of his
duties and ever stood as a high type of the Christian gentleman.
CHARLES H. MATHEWS
To accomplish what one undertakes, to believe that one's capacities
and powers are equal to his opportunities, to avail oneself of the
advantages near at hand—all these things indicate the innate
strength of the individual and are the measure of his success.
Prominent among those who have occupied foremost positions in the
ranks of Galesburg's business men and who have attained a notable
measure of prosperity, at the same time commanding the respect and
honor of those with whom they have had dealings, was Charles H.
Mathews who was born in Schenectady, New York, February 1, 1823. His parents, John and Letitia (Humphrey) Mathews, were born,
reared and married in County Tyrone, Ireland, and after the birth of
their first child they came to America, settling at Schenectady, New
York, where the father followed merchandising for many years. Pie
died in 1871.
In the common schools of his native city Charles H. Mathews pursued
his education, but his father met with financial reverses and the
boy began earning his own livelihood by clerking in a store in
Schenectady when thirteen years of age. Pater he went to New York
city where he engaged in business on his own account for several
years. Pie then returned to his native city where he established a
large dry-goods business which he conducted successfully until 1856.
His interests were constantly broadening in scope and volume, and
believing that there were still better opportunities in the middle
west he came in 1856 to Galesburg where he engaged in merchandising
until 1864. The following year he became identified with the First
National Bank of the city but in the autumn of 1865 he returned to
Schenectady where he remained, retired from business, until 1874.
His Galesburg interests having grown to large proportions he
returned here and again entered the dry-goods business from which he
finally retired in January, 1881. So wisely, capably and carefully
were his interests directed that he amassed- a fortune and had
become the richest man in Galesburg at the time of his death which
occurred on the 12th of March, 1883. Difficulties and obstacles never seemed to cause any great mental
disturbance with him; he seemed to find .a way out of any dilemma^
such as one continually confronts in a business career and gradually
he advanced to a point where his success made him one of the
foremost business men in Galesburg. He always followed constructive
methods, never taking advantage of the necessities of another, and
his straightforward dealing and enterprise gained him not only
prosperity but the high regard and honor of his fellow townsmen.
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1139-
On the 18th of October, 1855, in Amsterdam, New York, Mr. Mathews
was married to Miss Eliza Sheldon, a daughter of Alexander Sheldon,
for many years a distinguished member of the Albany bar. He married
Miss Jackson and died in Amsterdam, New York, in i860. Mr. and Mrs.
Mathews became the parents of five children: Alice, now deceased;
Letitia; Charles H., who has also passed away; Mary; and Annie W.,
who is the wife of J. Grant Beadle of Galesburg.
Mr. Mathews gave his political allegiance to the republican party
but never sought the rewards of office in recognition of party
fealty. He died in Galesburg, March 12, 1883, and a life of great
activity and usefulness was thus ended. Many years have since come
and gone but his memory is cherished by those who knew him and all
students of history recognize the part he played in the up-building
and development of this section. It was a far step from his starting
point in a humble clerkship at the age of thirteen years to his
later position as a foremost citizen of Galesburg, but the way which
he traveled was straight, his purpose unfaltering and his success
was the legitimate reward of his enterprise.
ERASTUS SWIFT WILLCOX.
That man may be considered fortunate who succeeds in finding a place
in the business or educational world, for which he is in all
respects thoroughly adapted.
The above reflection applies with full force to Erastus Swift
Willcox, the librarian of the Peoria public library. Mr. Willcox was
born at Port Henry, Essex county, New York, February 16, 1830, a son
of Henry and Mary Keziah (Meacham) Willcox. They both belonged to
that sturdy, substantial, sensible class, common to New England and
New York state. The father was a farmer. He came west as one of the
first colonists who settled on the prairie where the city of
Galesburg, in Knox county, now stands. His object in settling there
was to give his children the benefit of a liberal education in the
college which, under the plan of Dr. George W. Gale, was about to be
established in Galesburg, now and for a long time known as Knox
College.
James Willcox, grandfather of Erastus S. Willcox, was born in
Killing-worth, Connecticut. His ancestors came from Plymouth,
England, about 1640. In 1773 the grandfather, when about eighteen
years of age, removed to Bridgeport, Vermont, where he owned a large
farm on the shore of Lake Champlain, residing there until his death
in 1840. He was one of the two guides to help Ethan Allen and his
Green Mountain boys across the lake at the time of the capture of
Fort Ticonderoga in 1775. His remembrance of the language of
1140 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
Ethan Allen, at the time of his demand for the surrender of the
fort, was: "In the name of God Almighty and the Continental
Congress," etc., instead of the language usually attributed to him.
The great-grandfather on the mother's side was Captain William
Meacham, commander of a company in Colonel Woodbridge's regiment. He
was killed at the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775, and his name
is inscribed on the bronze tablets at Winthrop Square, just below
that of General Warren.
It will be seen that the subject of this sketch is descended from
patriotic, fighting stock, and it accounts, in a measure, for that
persistent tenacity which has characterized his entire career. Mr.
Wilcox was graduated in the classical department of Knox College in
the class of 1851. As before stated, his father was a farmer, and
Mr. Willcox was reared upon the farm. His taste, however, was not
for that sort of a life, but rather for books. After graduation he
taught a select school in Farmington, Illinois, for one year. He
then became clerk in a bank in Peoria, where he remained for a year,
after which he studied and traveled in Germany, France, Italy and
England, for two years, with his personal friend, Professor
Churchill, of Knox College. He was then professor of modern
languages for six years, until the war of the Rebellion compelled
retrenchment in the college finances. He then returned to Peoria,
studied law and subsequently engaged in the business of
manufacturing and coal mining, which he continued until 1891, when
he assumed the duties of librarian of the Peoria public library.
Probably no man in Peoria was so actively and earnestly engaged in
the establishment of the public library as Mr. Willcox. Soon after
his return and settlement .in Peoria he interested himself in the
library as it then existed, and was one of the prime movers in the
establishment of the Mercantile library. With great persistence and
sound judgment he aided in the development of the latter, and
subsequently, in connection with others, brought about the
establishment of the Peoria public library, to which was transferred
all of the personal property of the Mercantile Library Association.
The beautiful building, now known as the Public Library building,
was largely the result of the earnest efforts of Mr. Willcox, and it
will stand as a monument for years to come of his zeal and interest
in the education of the people. He has occupied the position of
inspector of the Peoria public schools, and was president of the
board for two years. He has always been especially interested in the
subject of education, not only in the public schools, but through
the influence of the public library, and has been noted during his
whole career in Peoria for his devotion to this cause. His
experience as a director of the Mercantile library from 1864
demonstrated that a subscription library—the only kind of public
library known in those days—was a failure, so far as reaching the
masses of the people were concerned; and, for the very good reason
that the women and children who hungered for books did not hold the
family purse strings, while the men who held the purse strings did
not care particularly for books.
Mr. Willcox has always earnestly favored the societies and
organizations that had for their purpose the development of all that
was best in the city, and has given of his time and means generously
in that direction. Lie is the author of the present state library
law, which was adopted March 7, 1872—the first really comprehensive
free public library law in the United States, and the model of the
library laws which other states have enacted since. The proof
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1141
that such a law was needed is seen in the fact that, whereas, the
old subscription library had a membership never exceeding three
hundred, the free public library now has a membership of nine
thousand, four hundred and seventy.
Mr. Willcox grew up under the influence of the Presbyterians and
Congregationalists, but in his matured years has not been able to
subscribe to all the peculiar tenets of either of those churches,
but has always believed in all that was best in all church work.
In politics he is and always has been a republican but believes in
that manly independence which leads a man to vote for the best man
for public office, especially in local affairs, whether belonging to
his own party or another.
In July, 1857, Mr. Willcox was married to Mary T. Hotchkiss, of
Peoria, the only daughter of J. P. Hotchkiss, and granddaughter of
General Walter Booth, of Meriden, Connecticut. She died January 10,
1863, leaving two children, George M. and Mary PL, the latter now
Mrs. Sisson, of Flagstaff, Arizona. Mr. Willcox was again married,
June 22, 1869, his second union being with Mary L. Hatch, of
Warwick, Massachusetts. Two children have been born of this union,
William Arthur and Harold Hatch.
As the beginning of this sketch indicates, Mr. Willcox is the right
man in the right place. His thorough education, his foreign travel,
his interest in and acquaintance with books, render him an
invaluable man in the position he now occupies. It would be
exceedingly difficult to fill his place with any one so well fitted
to discharge the duties of the position. He has for years kept
himself well abreast of the times and well informed in reference to
books and writers. His sound knowledge touching the value of books
peculiarly fits him for the position. He has made a special study of
public libraries, and is well versed in all modern methods relating
to their operation. All the friends of the public library earnestly
hope for many future years of his efficient, acceptable service, and
would seriously regret his retirement. Pie has always in all his
dealings and life been highly regarded for his high purpose, his
advocacy of all that is best in personal, municipal and national
life. The influence of such men is not always fully appreciated
during their life but it leaves its mark for good upon the
community, becoming more apparent and potential as time goes on.
THEODORE M. COX.
Theodore M. Cox, the president of the Galesburg Grocery Company and
also of the Cox Brothers Company, made his start in life upon the
basis of a public-school education and good home training, and since
that time has constantly advanced, the field of his activity
continuously broadening while his labors have more and more become a
factor in upholding the commercial stability and progress. He was
born in Vermont, Fulton county. Illinois, May 26, 1866. His
grandfather, Jesse Cox, was a native of Pennsylvania and a carpenter
by trade. He married Theodosia Mershon and they became early
residents of Fulton county, Illinois, where their remaining days
were passed. They had a large family including Mary, Samuel, Henry,
Rebecca, Caleb B. and others. The maternal grandfather of Theodore
M. Cox was Josiah Wilkinson,
1142 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY
who was born in Pennsylvania and learned and followed the
cabinet-maker's trade. He was also an early settler of Fulton
county, Illinois, where both he and his wife, who bore the maiden
name of Ellen Hamer, lived to an old age. Their children were as
follows: Joseph, Hannah, Mary, Annie B., Henry, Cornelia and
Charles.
Caleb B. and Annie B. (Wilkinson) Cox, the parents of Theodore M.
Cox, were natives of Pennsylvania. The former was reared in the
Keystone state and became a school teacher but, removing to the
west, cast in his lot with the early settlers of Fulton county,
Illinois, where he engaged in merchandising. Some time afterward he
turned his attention to the banking business in Vermont,, Illinois,
and also became a prominent factor in the public life of the county
which for two terms he represented in the Illinois legislature. He
also served for three years in the Eighty-fourth Illinois Volunteer
Infantry during the Civil war with the rank of major. He died in
Vermont in 1874 when but forty-one years of age, and in that period
he accomplished a work which might well be regarded as a serviceable
life work of many a man of twice his years. His widow still survives
him. They were originally members of the Society of Friends or
Quakers. Their family numbered seven children: Wilmer, deceased;
Theodore M., of this review; Mary Ellen, who has also passed away;
Olive, the wife of H. H. Cleveland, of Rock Island, Illinois;
Edward, of Galesburg; Howard, also a resident of Rock Island; and
Sherman, of New York city.
Theodore M. Cox spent his youthful days in his native county and
after attending the public schools of Vermont was for a brief period
a student in Knox College. He afterward began clerking in a hardware
store belonging to his uncles, J. W. and Henry Cox, and subsequently
became a partner of his uncle, Ezra Dilworth, and the latter's son
Willis in the conduct of a business at Vermont under the firm name
of E. Dilworth & Company. After two years Mr. Cox withdrew from that
partnership and joined his brothers Edward and Howard in purchasing
the Dilworth interests in the business, which they continued to
conduct until 1896. In that year Theodore M. Cox and Howard Cox came
to Galesburg and purchased the business of the Avery Brothers &
Brooks Company which they conducted with success until 1903, when
they sold out and erected the Cox building at the corner of Chambers
and Mulberry streets. There they conducted a heavy machinery storage
and transfer business and in 1904 organized the Cox Brothers Company
in order to engage in the general vehicle and implement business in
addition to their storage enterprise. They also opened a retail
store for the sale of vehicles, farm implements and seeds, and
through the establishment of branch houses conducted business in
that line in three different locations. Eventually, however, they
disposed of their retail interests and in 1909 in connection with F.
S. Taylor acquired the Galesburg Grocery Company of which Theodore
M. Cox is the president. In 1910 he also became interested in the
Galesburg Cornice Works, the business being now conducted in the Cox
building. He is likewise a member of the syndicate that purchased
the George W. Brown property. Long since recognized as a prominent
and progressive man, his cooperation has been sought in many fields,
in all of which his labors have become effective and far-reaching
elements of success.
Mr. Cox was united in marriage to Miss Lilly I. Oviatt, a daughter
of Henry and Mary (Jones) Oviatt and a native of Arkansas. Eight
children have been
HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY 1143. Illinois
born of this marriage, as follows: Anna Beth, Margaret Ella, Olive
Louise, Doris Irene, Mary Ann, Syble Josephine and two who died in
infancy.
In his political views Mr. Cox is a republican and has served as
chairman of the board of election commissioners but has on the whole
taken little active part in politics or public affairs, preferring
to concentrate his energies upon his business interests which have
constantly developed in importance and in extent. He never falters
until he has carried forward to success his well defined plans, yet
in their execution he has never been known to take advantage of
another in trade conditions but has promoted his business along
constructive lines and by honorable methods has won public
confidence as well as prosperity. submitted by
Anne who calls herself Ancestor Seeker which she had already
submitted these Cox's biographies to Illinois Trails before my time
but they are not here. so am putting them here again. Thanks Anne.
Stewart J. Cox.
Pages 515-516
Stewart J. Cox, an
agriculturalist, residing on section 16, Ontario township, was born
on the 3d of October, 1876, upon the farm where he is now living.
He is a son of L. J. and Elizabeth (West) Cox, of whom mention is
made elsewhere in this volume.
Stewart Cox received his education
in the common schools and has since assisted in the cultivation of
the farm. In 1895 he began farming independently and now is the
owner of two hundred and ten acres of land, which he devotes to
general farming and to feeding hogs for market purposes. In his
agricultural pursuits he has gained the success which is the reward
of hard labor and persistent effort conscientiously carried on, even
though the start is made without capital.
On the 3d of October 1900, Mr. Cox
was married to Miss Mildred White, a daughter of John and Mary (Barrer)
White, the father being engaged in farming. Mr. and Mrs. Cox have
become the parents af (sic) three children: Stewart Garrett, Minnie
E. and James Richard. In his political allegiance Mr. Cox retains
an independent attitude, casting his vote for the man or measure
which he thinks will be most effective for good government rather
than according to the dictates of any party. He holds membership in
the subordinate lodge of the Odd Fellows and the encampment of the
Modern Woodmen of America, of Woodhull. In all life’s relations,
whether as a business man, citizen or in fraternal affairs, he is
progressive and believes that the individual should continually
advance through the recognition and improvement of opportunities
which present themselves.
submitted by Anne who calls
herself Ancestor Seeker which she had already submitted these
Cox's biographies to Illinois Trails before my time but they are not
here. so am putting them here again. Thanks Anne.
ISIDOR I. BONDI.
For fifteen years Isidor I. Bondi has been numbered among the
merchants of Galesburg, having in 1897 opened here a dry-goods store
under the name of Bondi Brothers & Company. The correctness of their
business methods is manifest in their success, which has enabled
them not only to build up an extensive establishment and control a
large trade in this city but also to establish various branch stores
elsewhere which are also proving profitable sources of income.
Mr. Bondi was born in Salina, Kansas, April 29, 1868, his parents
having been pioneer settlers there. His father, August Bondi, was
born in Vienna, Austria, July 21, 1833, and acquired his education
in the Academic Gymnasium of Vienna. He was fifteen years of age
when on the 15th of May, 1848, he joined the Academic Legion,
lifting the first granite paving block to start the first barricade
in the Vienna revolutionary struggle. On the 6th of September, 1848,
he left Vienna for the United States, arriving at New Orleans on the
10th of November and going thence to St. Louis. In October, 1849, he
began retailing auction stock at Quincy but afterward returned to
St. Louis to learn the printer's trade. In 1854 naturalization
rights made him a citizen of the United States and the same year he
entered a claim near Lawrence, Kansas. While there he formed the
acquaintance of John Brown, the noted apostle of liberty, and joined
the Free State minutemen under command of that intrepid leader. They
marched to Lawrence and thus was instituted the beginning of the
Border Ruffian war. On the 14th of May, 1857, Mr. Bondi was
appointed postmaster of Walker, Anderson county, Kansas, and was
still the incumbent of that office when, three years later, on the
28th of June, i860, he was married to Henrietta Einstein, of
Leavenworth, Kansas. On the 23d of December, 1861, he offered his
services to the government in defense of the Union as a member of
Company K, Fifth Kansas Cavalry, with which he remained for three
years. Mr. Bondi was a lawyer by profession and was prominently
identified with public interests in the various communities in which
he lived. He served at different times as United States commissioner
at Fort Harker, as postmaster at Salina, Kansas, and in various
county and state offices in Kansas. The love of liberty and the
spirit of loyalty which prompted him to ally his interests with the
contending forces in Vienna when but fifteen years of age were
manifest throughout his entire life. He died
September 30, 1907.
1144 HISTORY OF KNOX COUNTY, Illinois
Isidor I. Bondi laid the foundation of his education in the public
schools at Salina, Kansas, and made his initial step in the business
world in 1886 by pursuing a course of drafting and serving an
apprenticeship at carpentering and building. Subsequently he took a
business course in the Salina Normal College at Salina, Kansas, and
in the spring of 1889 he removed westward to Portland, Oregon, where
he remained for six years. The following year was spent in eastern
Oregon and in Idaho and after the McKinley election he left the west
and came to Illinois. In the spring of 1897 he formed a partnership
with his brother, Hart E. Bondi, and opened a dry-goods store in
Galesburg under the firm style of Bondi Brothers & Company. They
have increased their business from year to year until theirs is one
of the most extensive establishments in this part of the state and
in addition they have opened and conduct successfully branch stores
in Kewanee, Illinois; Salina, Kansas; and Sedalia, Missouri.
On the 26th of July, 1911, Mr. Bondi was united in marriage to Miss
Tennie Zuzak, of Boonville, Missouri. They have one daughter, Helen,
who was born on the 8th of June, 1912. Mr. Bondi belongs to the Sons
of Judah, a Jewish congregation, and is its secretary. He is a
charter member and one of the directors of the Provident Saving &
Loan Association of Galesburg and his fraternal relations are with
the Elks Lodge No. 894 and Veritas Lodge, No. 478, I. O. O. F., of
which he has been treasurer for a number of years. He is likewise an
active member of the Galesburg Club, serving at the present time on
its commercial committee, and he is a member of the Soangetaha
Country Club. He also has an interesting military chapter in his
life record, for at the age of seventeen years he was mustered into
the Fourth Regiment Band of the Kansas National Guard, with which he
served for three years. As a business man he is alert and
enterprising, actuated by a spirit of progress in all that he does.
As we look over life we see that to one is given the talent for
poetry, to another that of art, to another of construction, to
another of mechanics, and to still another the capability for
successful business management. Few men under fifty would willingly
admit that the last mentioned is limited and young men especially
all believe that they possess it. But the annual records of business
failures show that the rule holds good and that only a comparatively
few have the capability for the successful control of commercial
interests. Mr. Bondi is one who has been thus endowed and his
diligence and progressiveness have constituted the basis of
continuous advancement.
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