Rock Island County, Illinois - The whole text, 1908 (part 9 of 16)

A case which attracted a great deal of attention was the grave robbery committed at Rapids City, January 19, 1900. Arthur D. Farber, Charles Donahoo and Charles Jasperson were indicted for robbing the grave of Mrs. Christine Maurer, Farber pleaded guilty and turned state's evidence, going to the penitentiary, but was afterwards paroled. Donahoo was acquitted and Jasperson was sent to the penitentiary.

Carl Wendt, a fisherman, was found dead in his boat near Cordova during the Summer of 1901. The Stiles brothers, also fishermen, of Princeton, were held for the murder but were acquitted.

Alfelia Boetjer was thrown into the Mississippi River from the Rock Island bridge in the Summer of 1886, after being choked. Hep husband, James Boetjer, was arrested and indicted for the crime, but was acquitted at the January term of Court following.

In September, 1867, David Edgington shot and killed Hiram Reynolds. He was tried and convicted the following October and received a life sentence.

September, 1859, Jesse W. Ballard was struck on the head with a club and killed. Jesse Farrell was convicted of tlie crime but was never apprehended.

Patrick Ganey, James McCormack and Patrick Grogan killed Conrad Whittick November 14, 1879, on the Ninth Street Road, outside the city limits, by striking him with a stone. Grogan went to prison for life, Ganey got fourteen years and McCormack was acquitted.

Butler, Halsey Hammond, John Galagher, John Campbell, Oliver Chandanais and James Cronan killed William Armstead, alias Armstrong, on board the steamer Dubuque, with sticks of wood and pieces of coal, July 29, 1869. The accused took a change oT venue to Henry County, where they were convicted.

John Kavanaugh, Bernard Heeney, Charles Ross and Pat Heenev killed Joseph Rosenfield, a policeman, March 12, 1879, on the streets of Rock Island. John Kavanaugh was sentenced for life, Pat Heeney for fourteen 3'ears.

Other cases of less sensational character were: Alexander .\bbott; charged with the murder of Patrick McGurtry, June 24, 1860. The defendant was found not guilty January 14, 1865. Jasper Hampton, Turner Hampton and Joseph Langley were indicted for the murder of Charles S. Bean July 9, 1859. but were found not guilty. Harry Brookman was indicted for the murder of Grant Buffum at Andalusia in May, 1886, but was acquitted. Mable Lagrange and Elsa M. Boyer were indicted in May, 1893, for throwing a child in the river, but insane, and the case was nolle prossed as to Elsa Boyer. James Berrj' and Leslie Barker were indicted in March, 1880, for killing Anthony Evans, but were acquitted. Andrew G. Johnson was indicted in September 1863, for the murder of Lorona Roe; a change a venue was taken and the caise tried in Henry County. At the September term of

Court, 1S75, John Martens was tried for the murder of John Brace; he was found guiltjand sentenced to ten years in the penitentiary. George Erbst, was indicted January 7 for killing James Jackson on Market Square with a knife; he was found guilt}' and was sentenced to the peniteutiar}' for seventeen and a half years. Joseph Mclntyre was indicted Januarj' 7, 1S71, for the murder of Andrew J. Harris, but was acquitted. George W. Janes was found guilt.y of the murder of Robert McClusky in May, 1867, and was sentenced to -the penitentiary for three A"ears. Britta Nelson, of Rapids Citj', was indicted May 5, 1876, for the nuu-der of Peter Nelson, the weapon used being an axe. She was found guilty, but insane. Samuel Robertson was indicted Januarj' 22, 1886, for the murder of Hans Timmerman, but was acquitted Februar}' 6, 1886. Benjamin Thompson, Adam Reiling, William Patterson and Marj' Patterson were indicted at the September term of Court, 1859, for the murder of a male child by crushing its head; they were acquitted at the January term, 1860.

Jime, 1905, a very sensational murder occiu-red at a cabin boat on Island B, when either Josephine Collet or William Nagel shot Carl August Brady, to gain possession of his little boat house, for which they were arrested. From the story of the accused the two sat on the porch of the house boat, and Brady entering the cabin to get some provisions, one of the two shot him, while he was leaning over a stove in the opposite end of the boat. In a valise was found a hammer, which Josephine Collet said Nagel struck Brady. The bod}' was found in a cave near by. He had .some money and other effects, which the}' disposed of, mostly in Muscatine. Josephine Collet was released on technicalities, while Nagel was consigned to the penitentiary for life.

Port Byron Academy

Reverend A. .\. Harper. His son, E. T. Harper was the first principal. The school was started in 1881 in the second story of the buililing now occupied by Adrian and Witter's implement store, in the Dorrance Block. It has a strong Alumni, numbering among its members many prominent men and women. Professor M. J. Yolton, a graduate of the institution, is its present principal.

The Port Byron Academy is located at Port B}Ton, one of the oldest towns in Rock Island County, lies on the sloping hillside of the east bank of the Mississippi. The situation is healthful and the scenery of the river and bluffs is noted for its beauty. The village has some eight hundred inhabitants and has a high moral and social tone. In many respects it is a New England town. It has a quiet, intellectual atmosphere well suited to an earnest pursuit of studies. It stands about thirteen miles north of Moline, and is on the new main line of the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul railroad to Kansas City. It is also reached by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy railroad, and. by ferry to LeClaire, with the Interurban line to Davenport and Clinton.

The purpose of the academy is to supj'ly a high grade of scholastic education under the best of Christian influences. It attempts to give the broadest and best culture combined with a practical education for every day life. It plans to use the latest methods and to keep abreast with all the advances in modern learning.

The academy is a chartered institution under the direct control of the board of trustees. It has the hearty support of the Rock River and Davenport, Iowa, Association of Congregational Churches and is under their general supervision.

Beloit College takes an active part in promoting the interests of the academy, in securing and directing its teachers, in planning its coiu-ses of study.

Part Two Colonel George Davenport

COLONEL GL:0RGE DAVENPORT was the first white man to make a permanent settlement in what is now Rock Island County, arriving here in the spring of 1816. He was a native of England, born in Lincolnshire, in 1783. At the age of seventeen he enlisted as a sailor on a merchant vessel, and for the next three years he visited France, Spain and Portugal. In the fall of 1803 his vessel sailed from Liverpool to St. Petersburg, Russia, and shortly after its arrival there an embargo was laid upon all English vessels in that port, the vessels taken possession of and their crews thrown into prison by the Russian Government. In the following spring they were released and returned home. The next voyage was to New York, in the summer of 1804, where they arrived in safety. After discharging their cargo and taking another on board for Liverpool, as the vessel was on the point of sailing, one of the sailors was knocked overboard. Mr. Davenport quickly jumped into a small boat and rescued him. In jumping into the boat he fractured his leg very badly and, there being no surgeon on board, the captain had him taken to the city and placed in a hospital, returning without him. After remaining in the hospital about two months, he was advised to go into the country to recruit his health. Acting upon this advice, he went to Rahway, New Jersey, and subsequently to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where he afterward enlisted in the regular army.

In the spring of 1806 he went with his regiment to New Orleans, and in the fall received orders to march to Sabine River. While there, he was sent with dispatches to Fort Adams, and while on the way his canoe struck a snag and he was upset in the river. Clinging to some drift-wood, he managed to reach the shore, and was then obliged to strike across the country to the Jlissi-ssippi, traveling over swamps, bayous and sloughs. He was several days in reaching the fort, living upon what berries and wild fruit he could find. For ten years he served his adopted country as a soldier, principally against the Indians. In the second war with Cireat Britian the most important battle he was engaged in was that of Lundy Lane. He secured a British musket at this battle, which is still kept in the family as a relic of the war. On receiving his discharge in 181.5, he was employed by Colonel William Morrison, of Kentucky, government contractor, to supply the troops with provisions. Going to St. Louis, he took charge of several keelboats, loaded with provisions. A large drove of cattle were also purchased and driven through the country. They started up the river and arrived at the mouth of the Des Moines River late in the fall and concluded to stop there for the winter. In the spring of 1816, in company with Colonel Lawrence, in command of the Eighth Regiment United States Infantry, they again embarked on boats and proceeded up the river. Arriving at the mouth of Rock River, they examined the country for a site for a fort, resulting in the selection of the lower end of Rock Island as the most suitable point. They landed on Rock Island May 10, 1816, and here Mr. Davenport made his home until his death.

The Indians at that time were not veiy friendly to the Americans, but soon took a fancy to Mr. Davenport, giving him the name of Sag-a-nosh, meaning "an Englishman." During the second year, with what little money he had saved, he jnirchased a stock of goods and began trading with the Indians. As an Indian trader he was remarkably successful, securing and retaining their good will and confidence, although for a time he had more or less trouble with the Winnebagoes, at one time narrowly escaping being murdered.

In 1823 the first steamboat, the ' ' Virginia," arrived at the island loaded with provisions for Prairie du Chien, and Mr. Davenport was called upon to pilot her over the rapids.

In 1825 a postotfice was established upon the island, with Mr. Davenport as postmaster. He held the office until its removal to the main land, on the organization of the county.

During this year the first settlements were made in this vicinity. As they were poor Mr. Davenport furnished many of them with provisions and groceries until they could raise a crop. When the Indians returned in the spring of 1829, Mr. Davenport used all his influence to induce them to remove to the west side of the Mississippi, and partiaHy succeeded. Wapello removed his village to Muscatine Slough, and Keokuk, with part of the Sacs, to the Iowa River, but Black Hawk and the remainder of the Sacs refused to go, claiming that they never had sold their lands. During the Black Hawk War that followed, Mr. Davenport was appointed quarter-master general, with the rank of colonel.

In the fall of 18.35, in company with several others, he purchased a claim of Antoine l.e Cl.'iiri'. across llic river in Iowa, and proceeded to lay out a town. This town was given the name of" Davenport." in his honor.

In the fall of IS.'iT he visited Washington City, in company with a number of chiefs of the Sac and Fox Nations, and aided the Government in the purchase of a large portion of Iowa. In 1842 Governor Chambers made another treaty with the Sacs and Foxes. He told the chiefs to select any of their white friends they might choose to assist them in making a treaty. They selected Colonel Davenport as one of four. By this treaty the Indians sold all of their lands within the State of Iowa. Shorth^ after this, Colonel Davenport withdrew from the Indian trade and devoted the remainder of his life to the improvement of his property in Davenport and Rock Island.

' ' Colonel Davenport," said a well known writer, ' ' was of a very free and generous disposition, very jovial and very fond of company. After retiring from the Indian trade, he spent the winters generally in St. Louis or Washington. Whether traveling on a steamboat or stopping at a hotel, he would always lune a crowd around him listening to his stories and anecdotes. He never sued any one in his life, and- could not bear to see any one in distress without trying to relieve him. Ho enjoyed excellent health and spirits, and had a prospect of living many years to enjoy the comfort for which he had toiled so hard, but he was struck down by one of a band of robbers, in his own house, on the fourth of July, 1845. He died aged sixty-two."

The life of Colonel Davenport was a long and active one. "Although of trans-Atlantic extraction," says the writer already quoted from, "he was a true type of the American, possessing indomitable resolution, a restless desire to progress, with an invincible determination to overcome obstacles and achieve success. Much as his courage, perseverance, enterprise and ability demand admiration, there is still something more than these commanding our respect and honor - something which is more lustrous than wealth, better than position or title: it is his Humanity. Had men of his bias dealt with Black Hawk and his 'British Band,' less gory scalp locks would have decked the belts of warring savages, less blood would have been shed, and the entire fearful drama of devastation, slaughter and carnage whicli was enacted upon our frontiers, would have been wholly omitted. Honor to his ashes! He sleeps in a grave whose proud epitaph reads: "Here lies a friend to humanity!'"

Judge John W. Speincer

JUDGE JOHN W. SPENCER, deceased, one of the pioneers of Rock Island County, was born at Vergennes, Vermont, July 25, 1801. His parents, Calvin and Ruth (Hopkins) Spencer, were natives of the New England Colonies. The father of Judge Spencer was born in Bennington, Vermont, and his mother near Great Barrington, Massachusetts, and were descended from the Puritan English. They reared four sons and a daughter, John W., being the eldest. At this writing the first and second generations here mentioned are long since gathered unto their fathers, and only the grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren remain to perpetuate names made honorable in the eOirliest history of our county. From the two families united by the marriage of Calvin Spencer and Ruth Hopkins, in the very beginning of the past century, many noble men have sprung - men who have adorned alike the pulpit and the state; and if it were possible in the space at our command to trace the genealogy of the Spencers and the Hopkinses from the days when some of their ancestors were enforcing in a judicial capacity, the quaint old laws that forbade travel on the Sabbath except in a pious going to and from the Church of Ciod, - laws that allowed no whistling or other boisterous condvict on that sacred day; laws, indeed, that forbade "ye good man ye kissing of his wife on ye Sabbath day" - if it were possible, we say, to follow the history of those families from their periwigy:ed "squire-archy " down to the death-bed scene at Rock Island, February 20. 1S7S, from whence tlie spirit of John W. Spencer took its flight, the roster would contain many names that good people have revered. But the ]irovince of the present biographer is limited to a bare recital of the more important events occurring in the life of the gentleman whose name forms the caption of this sketch. The lives of Spencer, Davenpoi't, Wells, Case and Vandruff are all indelibly stamped upon the history of a great state. Unlike a majority of men of whom we write, they made history; without such men there would have been no history to write. What we know of the hills, the forests and the streams, unpeopled by the hardy pioneer and those who followed them, would be a chapter easily written. A famous writer has said that the history of a country is but a story of the lives of the men who make it. The history of Rock Island County from the Indian occupation down to the time when a knowledge of events shall cease to be perpetuated in print will reflect the life of Spencer, - and that, too, whether his biography, as such, were ever written.

John W. Spencer spent his youth in his native state and at the common schools acquired the rudiments of an education. In 1820, driving a two-horse team for Mr. Brush, he crossed the Alleghany Mountains, traversed the broad states of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois, and at the end of fifty-one days from the time of his leaving home, landed in the City of St. Louis. The State of Missouri was just then being admitted into the Union, and as negro slavery was, by the constitution, made legal,

Mr. Spencer jjreferrod to ea.st his lot east of the "Father of the Waters". So in December following his departure from New England, in company witli an uncle who had been a resident of .Missouri, he recrossed the Mississippi and took up a residence in Greene County. Illinois. Here he stopped for seven years and worked at farming. In the spring of 1826. in search of a location for a water mill, he ascended the Illinois River as far as Ottawa. Failing to discover any site to his fancy, he retraced his steps and the following spring ascended the Mississippi to the lead mines. On this trip his attention was attracted by the natural beauty of Rock Island and the adjacent country on either side of the river, and when in the following year he learned that the Indians had abandoned the Rock River Territory, he decided to go at once to Rock Lsland. He was accompanied here bj^ Mr. Louden Case, Sr.. whose daughter he afterward married.

At that period Galena, one hundred miles distant, was the nearest postoffice. The presidential election had just taken place, but nothing was known at Rock Island of the result. For a consideration young Spencer undertook, on foot, to carry the mailbags to and bring the election returns from Galena. The river was frozen, he donned his skates and set out. His route was through the not altogether friendly Winnebago country, but he encountered no difficulty from that source, and on Christmas Day, 1827, he started on the return trip, landing three days later at Rock Island; and the people learned that ' ' Old Hickory " was president elect of the United States. It must almost have taken his breath away when the sum of five dollars was placed in his hands in payment for a two hundred mile run on foot through a hostile Indian countrj' in the dead of winter.

In the spring of 1829 he brought his family from Morgan County (whither they had removed the year before from Greene) to Rock Island and took possession of a vacant Indian wigwam. From that day to the hour of his death, J. W. Spencer was a citizen of Rock Island. He witnessed the return of Black Hawk from his hunting expedition, to find his lodges occupied by the "pale-faces"; he heard the angry and reasonable protests of that great chief, against the encroachments upon his natural rights; he heard his sorrowful argument "Saukie-wigeop-saukie-aukie" repeated many times to no purpose, and saw the great chief stride awaj- toward the setting sun, where he told his people that the story of the occupancy of their lands by the white men was too true. He saw the chief and his people come again, and in common with other settlers, knew the purpose of their coming; he knew the possibilities of their discontent, and feared that the Indian was bent upon revenge. He noted the first outbreak of their savage insubordination; saw the culmination of their ferocity as it rose in lurid lights from burning cabins, and disturbed the elements with the screams of butchered women and children. He saw the swift-footed pioneers as they pursued the savage destroyers, and saw the strong arm of the Government as it descended upon the wih' Sac and his warriors at Bad .\xe, - and he saw peace reign supreme in the valley of the Mississippi.

In all the struggles of the Rock Island pioneers Mr. Spencer participated. During the Black Hawk War he was one of the organizers of the "Rock River Rangers", in which company he held the rank of first lieutenant. He was a member of the first board of Rock Island County Commissioners, and held the office twelve years. He was the first judge of the Rock Island County Court, and as such performed the first marriage ceremony in the county. He was a delegate to the Illinois State Constitutional Convention in 1847, and in this body he was a conspicuous factor. Though public-spirited, he had no ambition for office-holding, his only experience in that line being confined to a time when his country actually needed and demanded his services. In 1841 he, with David B. Sears, Spencer H. White, and Ainsworth and Lynde. merchants at Rock Island, built the first dam erected at Moline, and develo]:)ed the great water power at that place. At the death of Captain J. Wilson, the father of his second wife, in 1852, he succeeded to a controlling interest in the Rock Island and Davenport Ferry, a most valuable property, a large revenue from which still goes to the family. Mr. Spencer died as he lived, a conscientious Christian. He was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and brought his children up to a strict observance of that faith. One of his sons, the Rev. William Anson Spencer, is presiding elder of Dixon District, Rock River Conference, Illinois.

The first Mrs. Spencer, nee Miss Louisa Case, died in 1833, leaving one son, John C. Spencer, who died January 16, 1871. In 1834 Judge Spencer married Miss Eliza Wilson, of New Haven, ^'ermont. She was the accomplished daughter of Captain John Wilson, deceased. Of the six children, three only are living: Edward W., Julia S. (Mrs. D. T. Robinson) and the Rev. William Anson Spencer, of the Dixon District. John C. is deceased. Their son Charles H. was accidentally drowned when eighteen years of age in Rock River, and their youngest born, Roswell C!., dieil wlien about three vears of ase.

Philemon L. Mitchell

IN RECALLING to mind those men who in an early day laid the foundation of Rock Island's present commercial and financial stability, one's memory instinctively turns to an individual who, during his lifetime, was instrumental in organizing and conducting one of the largest banking houses in Rock Island County, and who was a tower of moral

He was born October 16, 1812, at Liniington, Maine, and died at his home in Rock Island January 23, 1895. His parents were Isaac and Martha (Libby) Mitchell. The father was a native of Maine and the mother of Ireland, she having come to America with her parents in her early childhood. To this couple seven children were born, four sons and three daughters. The parents spent their lives in the City of Limington, where their family was born and reared, the father dying in that city January 26, 1853, at the age of eightv-two years. The death of the mother occurred in the same city January 3, 1877, she having attained the extreme age of ninety-fom- years.

Philemon L. Mitchell spent his early boyhood in Limington. his school days being limited to a short attendance in that city's public schools. But his education was not in any sense a limited one on that account, for he was throughout his life a student of men and books. At the age of thirteen years he found it necessary to face the world for himself and earn his own livlihood. Although obliged so early in life to participate in its grim struggle, he was imbued with determination to succeed and was undaunted in his efforts to that end. At the age of twentyfive he located in Georgetown, Kentucky, where he engaged in mercantile pursuits. He continued in the mercantile business until 1850, when he was made cashier of the Farmers' Bank of Kentucky, a financial institution familiar in those days to every business man south of the Mason and Dixon Line. For years a note issued bj' this bank was equivalent to gold in any state in the Union.

In 1856 Mr. Mitchell severed his connection with that bank, and in company with P. L. Cable came to Rock Island. They bought out the banking firm of Cook, Sargent & Parker, established 1852. The partnership was continued until 1860, when Judge Cornelius

Lynde took over .Mr. Cable's interest in the concern, which was continued under the name of .Mitchell iV: Lynde until 1905. At this date the form of organization was changed to that of a state bank, and the institution is now known a.s the State Bank.

In 1S5S Mr. Mitchell and his partner purchased the building and other assets of the old Rock Island Rank and closed up its affairs, thus succeeding in eliminating almost entirely any competition in the field of banking in this vicinity for a number of j-ears. At the outbreak of the Civil War, Mr. Mitchell was the most widely kno\An and successful ba-nker in this section of Illinois, and in addition to his acknowledged financial strength and business ability he bore a deserved reputation for scrupulous integrity and probity in everj- commercial transaction. These facts led to his appointment by the famous New- York banking institution of Jay, Cook Oe Companj', America's financial Gibraltar at that time, as their correspondent for Rock Island County. Acting as the agent of this firm, he placed over §1,000,000 worth of United States Government Bonds in this county. In considering the magnitude of this transaction it must be borne in mind that the sum of §1,000,000 bore the same relation to the financial world of that day that S2o,- 000,000 or even 850,000,000 would to the financial world of todaj'.

In 1862 the First National Bank of Rock Island, charter No. 108, was organized bj- Mr. .Mitchell, and he was elected its president. He was also president of the Rock Island Plow Company and secretary of the Chippiannock Cemetery Association, as well as a large stock holder and director in the Jloline and Rock Island Street Railway Company, the Rock Island Glass Works, and the Rock Island Stove Company.

On October 11, 1837, at Exeter, New Hampshire, occurred the marriage of Mr. Jlitchell and Miss Catherine Hall, a young lady of that city. There were born to them five children, four daughters and a son: Aun'w -M., widow of Wm. C. Wadsworth; .Mary H., widow of Henry Wadsworth; Phil, president of the State Bank of Rock Island, whose biographical sketch appears elsewhere in this work; Laura M., deceased, who was the wife of Charles Shaler, United States Army, and Kate M., wife of Henry S. Fraser, of Indianapolis, Indiana. The death of Airs. Mitchell occurred October 4, 1868.

ilr. Mitchell throughout his life was a consistent and devoted member of the Christian Church, and to his memory has been erected the new Memorial Christian Church by his daughter, Mrs. Mary H. Wadsworth. He was a man extremely liberal but wholly unostentatious in his giving. His was a true and simple Christian character. As he walked through the world he helped his fellow man in the best and wisest manner, not by making him a dependent, but by aiding him to attain a position of independence, by friendly counsel or sound business advice, and where pecuniary assistance was necessary it was cheerfully and freely given, and from his lips no one ever learned of the generous act.

Such was the life of P. L. Mitchell. To attempt to delineate in eulogistic words his fine life and character would be futile. He was a man of quiet, natural dignity. Sucessful himself, he delighted in the success of others. In the happy phraseology of a great writer he was "one of God's own gentlemen."

John Edgington

THE name of Edgington is a well known one throughout Rock Island County- It is the name of one of the countj-'s earliest pioneer families. It is also the name of one of the county's most prosperous little villages, named in honor of one of the founders of that family, John Edgington, the subject of our sketch, a man who in his long lifetime spent in this county, lived to see it grow from a waste of prairie and wilderness into a wonderfully fertile farming community, dotted here and there with busy little villages and cities devoted to manufacture and commercial enterprise.

John Edgington was born July 4, 1809, at Steubenville, Ohio, and died in March, 1896, at the home of his son, James Edgington, at Reynolds, in this county.

He received his education in the common schools of Steubenville, Ohio, his birthplace, and in his young manhood followed the occupation of trading and merchandising in Steubenville, Ohio. In July, 1S34, he made a trip on horse-back from Steubenville to Rock Island seeking farm land, and stopping at a point in this county decided to permanently settle here. He took up a farm in what afterwards became Edgington Precinct, this being named after him. This precinct was afterwards divided into Edgington and Buffalo Prairie Townships, Mr. Edgington 's farm being located in the latter township.

On Februarj' 17, 1834, previous to settling in Rock Island County, Mr. Edgington was married to Miss Susan Crabbs, a young lady of Steubenville, and to the wilds of what was then an unsettled frontier, he brought his young wife. Nine children were born of this union, their eldest child, James, being the first white child born in Rock Island County south of Rock River. Their other children were Sarah; William, a son who died in infancy; Jane, now Mrs. Rufus Walker; Casandra, Margaret, wife of C. E. Dodge; Drusilla, wife of S. H. Parvin, and Harriet, wife of Fred Titterington. All of the children are now deceased with the exception of .Mrs. Walker and Mrs. Dodge. To her children Mrs. Edgington often recounted her experiences when she came to Rock Island County a bride. For the first six months after coming here, she never saw another white woman, and .she was in constant fear of the Indians who then roamed over the country. They took a great fancy to her first born son, James, the first white baby they had ever seen, and the young mother received frequent and urgent offers to trade a papoose for the white baby. This added to her fears, for she was in constant terror lest the Indians great desire to possess her offspring might lead them to make a forcible e.xchange at some time when her husband was absent. Mrs. Edgington died at the home of Mr. Rufus Walker, in Reynolds, in October, 1886.

But to return to our account of Mr. Edgington. He cleared and cultivated his farm in Buffalo Prairie, where he made his home until 1894, when he sold his farm and moved to Reynolds to make his home with his son, James, where, as has been stated, he lived until his death two years later. He lived the busy life of a farmer, but found time to take an interest and an active part in all that pertained to the advancement of the county. He was justice of the peace and school director for more than thirty years. He served as supervisor from his township for several terms, and served as a juror at the first term of court ever held in this county. He was a hospitable and genial man, and there was always a place at his table and hearth fire for the stranger and wayfaring man of those times, who was seeking a home.

In religious faith Mr. Edgington was a Presbyterian, and he helped to build the first church of that denomination that was built below Rock River in this county. He also helped hew the logs and erect the first school house built in the lower end of the county. It was located about an eighth of a mile east of his residence. The school was supported for several years by private subscription and if there was any deficit in the amount necessary to carry on the work of education, Mr. Edgington was always prompt in making up the balance himself.

became their paramount issue. Then, not agreeing with the majority of his party upon this question, he cast his vote for William McKinlej-, but it cost him a hard struggle to do so.

During his lifetime he accumulated a considerable competence, and the farm that he owned became enhanced in value as the years went by until it, in itself, became worth a ver}^ considerable fortune. He was a man of great public spu-it. a man beloved and esteemed by those who knew him, and his long and busy life was crowned with success.

Hon. T J. Medill

RANKING among Rock Island'.s prominent men, wlio have been honored politically and who have achieved a high standing in the realm of business, stands the subject of this sketch, Thomas J. Medill.

He was born in Milan, Illinois, March 16, 1859. His parents were Thomas J. and Eliza A. (Dickson) Medill. The father, when a young man, emigrated from the north of Ireland to America, and here he married Miss Eliza A. Dickson, the daughter of William Dickson, and a native of Erie Countj', Pennsjdvania. William Dickson, of whom a more extended biography a])pears elsewhere in this volume. laid out the town of Camden Mills, the name of which was afterward changed to Milan, in 1S43. Mr. Medill's parents enjoyed a long and happ3' life together and were greatly beloved and esteemed by all who knew them. The death of the mother occurred February 5, 1898. The father survived his wife scarcely a year, passing awaj' Januarj' 9, 1899.

Our subject spent his boyhood and early manhood in the Village of Milan and on a farm in Bowling Township, and after completing the curriculum prescribed by the village school of that period he entered upon an apprenticeship to the pape!' maker's trade.

At that time there were three paper mills in active operation in the vicinity of Milan, and the manufacture of that commodity was one of the main supports of that village. After mastering his trade Mr. Medill continued in that line of occupation for seven years, when he was offered a position in a promoting company which made a business of installing the Holly system of water works machinery, and which was then operating in the southwest. Later he returned to this county and settled in Rock Island, opening a real estate office. In this business he was a pronounced success, his acumen and sound judgment rendering him particularly competent to pass upon realty values. Consequently, in 1887 he was asked to take a leading part in the formation and organization of the Black Hawk Homestead Building, Loan and Savings Association, of which Mr. Medill became secretary, the active management of the association being entrusted to him. The success of the venture is due largely to his progressive, yet judicious management, and today the association is one of the foremost in that line operating in Rock Island. Mr. Medill still continues as its secretary and has the guidance of its affairs.

In 1893 Mr. Medill was candidate for mayor of Rock Island upon the Democratic ticket, the party of his choice and of his father before him, and to which he has alwaj's given his allegiance. He was elected, and upon the expiration of his term he again turned his whole attention to the duties involved in the management of the Building and Loan Association. In 1897 he was again a candidate, and was again elected. During Mr. Altgeld's administration as governor of Illinois, Mr. Medill was appointed bj' that executive as president of the board of trustees of the Illinois Western Hospital for the Insane, located at Watertown. At that time the immense institution had not been built, but as is customarj- the board of trustees was appointed before the actual erection of the institution, and it became a part of their duties to select a site and in a measure superintend the erection of the buildings. Largely through Mr. Medill's efforts the present site within this county was selected, and this spacious retreat for the reception and cure of the mentally afflicted was commenced during his incumbency. In 1896 he was proffered by his party the nomination for secretary of state for Illinois, but declined the honor. Mr. Medill is an active partisan in behalf of the Democratic party, but is as scrupulously fair and honorable in political matters as he is in business transactions. He has frequently been a delegate to his part}''s city, county, district and state conventions.

Mr. Medill was one of the organizers of the Rock Island Club, an institution formed for the promotion of the industrial, commercial and general welfare and advancement of Rock Island, and which also has many delightful social features. Three times Mr. Medill has been chosen as president of the Rock Island Club, and he is now a member of the board of directors.

Fraternally Mr. Medill is connected with the Masonic Order, of which he has been elected to the office of Worshipful Master; the National Union; the Modern Woodmen of America; the Knights of the Globe; the Fraternal Tribunes and the Elks. Mr. Medill was one of the organizers of the fraternal society known as the Fraternal Tribunes, which, it will be remembered, was first formed in that city. Mr. Medill was one of its chief promoters.

In 19U3 occurred the marriage of Mr. Medill and Miss Lucy Kinner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kinner, of Rock Island. Of their union one child has been born, a daughter, Frances V. Medill. At the time of the writing of this sketch, Mr. Medill had recently purchased one of the handsomest of the smaller residences in Rock Island. It is located on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Nineteenth Street, and until the time Mr.

As one of the most important works undertaken by the City of Rock Island during Mr. Medill's administration as mayor may be mentioned the construction of the great system of reservoirs by which the city is supplied with water, and which by its triple method of aeration, filtration and sedimentation is designed to remove the impurities naturally existing in the water as it is taken into the reservoir directly from the river.

In conclusion it may be said of Mr. .Medill that as a man he is honorable, u]3right and conscientious; as a citizen untiring in his efforts for the advancement of Rock Island, and in business he possesses acumen, keen insight and great general ability. These have been the characteristics and guiding principles of his life, and to them is due the fact that he is one of Rock Island's most respected and highly esteemed citizens.

THE history of the United States Government Arsenal located upon Rock Island is exhaustively narrated from its inception in another portion of this work. Consequently it is not the intention of the writer of this sketch to touch upon any phase of that history except the period covered by the regime of the present Commandant of Rock Island Arsenal, Colonel Stanhope E. Blunt, a man whose executive ability has been demonstrated of a high order.

Stanhope E. Blunt was born in Boston, Massachusetts, September 28, 1850. His father was Colonel Charles E. Blunt, Corps of Engineers, United States Army, who graduated from the Military Academy at West Point in 1846. His mother before her marriage was Miss Penelope Bethune English. Both his father and mother were born in

Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Colonel Blunt's forebears were among the earliest colonists in America. His paternal ancestors rank among the original settlers of Massachusetts, who, as history records, arrived there from England about 1634.

As a boy Colonel Blunt attended the public schools of his native city, Boston, and later the high school at Oswego, New York, from which he graduated in 1868, and thus he was well qualified for entrance to AVest Point. Upon the completion of the prescribed course of four years at the militarj^ academy, he graduated from that institution in 1872 with the rank of second lieutenant, and with the honor of being third in his class.

Upon his graduation he was at once assigned to duty in the Thirteenth Infantry, and in the course of a short time was promoted to a first lieutenanc3^ He served with his regiment in the states of Utah, Wj^oming Colorado and New Mexico from June 14, 1872, until November 1, 1874, when he was transferred to the Ordnance Department. From the date of his assignment to ordnance service until 1885, Colonel Blunt was stationed at various posts in numerous capacities. He was for a time instructor in mathematics, and also in ordnance and gunnery at West Point. Hewas afterward stationed for different periods at Frankfort, Springfield and Watervliet Arsenals; served as chief ordnance officer and inspector of rifle practice at headquarters' department in Dakota, and as inspector of small arms practice for the army.

On November 1, 1885. Colonel Blunt was a.ssigned as aide-de-camp to General Sheridan, and served in this capacity until the death of that warrior-hero, which occurred August 5, 1888. In -March, 1897, he was detailed commandant of Rock Island Arsenal, where he has since remained. At the time Colonel Blunt began his tenure as commandant, the Arsenal was little more than a magnificent possibility. It had potential greatness but that greatness was undeveloped. To the new commandant was given the power to transform the possibilitv into a reality. How well he has accomplished that task can be best appreciated by those who have seen it grow in importance from a small manufacturing plant employing a few hundred men to a mammoth plant employing thousands; who have seen the discontinuance of the antiquated application of direct water power and the installation of huge dj-namos, driven by huge turbines ; who witnessed the straining of every facility and the astounding output during the Spanish-American War, and lasth'^ the acquisition of the Arsenal's latest industry, the small arms' plant, whose location at this point was due largeh- to the efforts and advice of the commandant. These achievements clearly show that the man was not merely content to sit quietly by and allow events to pursue their course without lifting a hand to shape those events. He is preeminently a man of action. Let credit be given where credit is due and praise where praise is meet. To Colonel Stanhope E. Blunt is certainly due great credit and unstinted praise, for certain it is that he is the active and important factor in the Arsenal's development. That he has had able assistants is true, but upon his shoulders rested the weight of responsibility as commandant, and his ability was so thoroughly recognized that his suggestions in regard to improvements for the Arsenal were given a readj"^ hearing by his superior officers.

November IS, 1873, Colonel Blunt was wedded to Miss Fanny Smyth, of Oswego, New York, the city of her birth, her parents being Charles and Catherine (Colt) Smyth. Both were of English descent; the father tracing his ancestry from the early settlers in Alban}', New York, and the mother tracing her progenitors to the first pioneers in Connecticut. To Colonel and Mrs. Blunt three daughters have been born, the Misses Kath- erine, Evelyn Bethune (named after her maternal grandmother's French ancestors,) and Frances Smyth Blunt. These young ladies have received a most careful and comprehensive education, and take an active part in the social life of the Tri-Cities.

But it is not alone for his pronounced exeutive ability at the Rock Island Arsenal that Colonel Blunt has won prominence. As an authority on military tactics, and as a writer upon technical subjects pertaining to martial affairs he has long since been accorded commendation and recognition. His books, "Rifle and Carbine Firing," and "Firing Regulations for Small Arms" have reached the almost incredible number of sixteen editions.

Colonel Blunt is a member of several patriotic and military societies, among which may be mentioned the Society of Colonial Wars, Sons of the Revolution, Society of War of 1812, Society of Foreign Wars, Society of American Wars, Naval Order of the United States, and the Loyal Legion.

How sincerely Colonel Blunt's efforts toward the upbuilding of the Arsenal, not only by the people of the Tri-Cities, but by the authorities at Washington as well, is demonstrated by the high tribute paid him by Senator Allison, when he declared that "Rock Island Arsenal, during the few months of the late Spanish War, more than returned in advantage to the country the great cost of its construction; and unquestionably, in a war of any magnitude and duration, this cost would again be repaid many fold."

Such is the career of Colonel Stanhope E. Blunt. Added comment or fulsome eulogy would be futile and would only detract from the impression created by the simple, dignified life of the man himself. A man of few words and many deeds, courteous in his bearing toward all, is Colonel Blunt; in fine a thorough gentleman; a vigorous executive and a typical soldier.

Morris Rosenfield

ONE of Rock Island's most prominent and respected citizens during his lifetime spent in that city, and whose memory is cherished and revered by all who knew him, was Morris Rosenfield, the subject of this sketch.

He was born in Wurttemberg, Germany, December 18, 1841, and died January 28, 1899, at Tuebingen, Germany, where he had gone in hopes that he might regain his shattered health.

The Rosenfield family was one of the most respected in the little city of om- subject's birth, his father being one of the most enterprising and properous citizens of Wurttemberg. As an instance of the indomitable spirit that animated the elder Rosenfield, it may be related that after he was well past three score years he came to America on a visit to his son, Morris, and other relatives located here, a very considerable undertaking for a gentleman of his years in a day when the lu.xuries of traveling were very far below what they are today, and when any lengthy joiu'ney was inevitably accompanied by delay, fatigue and danger. To the firm and unfaltering character of this patriarch the success of the future generations of Rosenficlds can be traced.

Morris Rosenfield received his education at the high school in Megentheim, Germany. After completing his studies in that institution he decided to emigrate to America. He came to this country in 1859 when he was eighteen j'ears of age. His uncles, J. and M. Rosenfield, were already engaged in the wholesale leather lousiness in Rock Island, and in that business their nephew found employment, later becoming one of the partners. He sold out his interest in the leather busine.ss, however, in 1868, and one year later he became identified with parties who were operating a factory in Moline, devoted to the manufacturo of farm wagons. This niaimfactory with whicli Mr. Rosen field was oonnectrd drciilcii to incor])oratc in 1S72, and at that time ho ijet-amc the first president of what has been known ever since as The Moline Wagon Com|)any, a position lie held tmtil tlie time of his death. He was practicall}' the founiler of the company, and W'as always the life and inspiration of the concern, molding and guiding it through its constant and stead}- growth and by liis business ability and foresight developing it into one of that city's largest and most important industries, and b}' its progress and prosperity demonstrating that its founder and developer possessed talent as an organizer.

On the 10th of November, 1874, Mr. Rosenfield was joined in marriage to Miss Julia E. Ottenheimer, and to this couple three children were born: Irene, wife of Samuel Strauss, and now residing in New York City; Walter A., the present head of the Moline Wagon Company, and the sketch of whose life appears elsewhere in this book, and Charles. ]\Ir- Rosenfield was a man devoted to his home, his wife and his children, and his family circle was indeed a happy one. When in the clutches of the disease that finally caused his death his family bent every thought and every effort toward giving him the most tender and ministering care.

In politics Mr. Rosenfield was a stauncli and loyal Republican, and occupied a prominent place in the coimcils of his party. He served as delegate and as alternate to several National Conventions of the Republican party, and freely gave his labor, his influence and his money to promote the success of the party of his choice.

Mr. Rosenfield was a man of high character and of broad and comprehensive view. He was thoroughly cosmopolitan in his tastes and ideas. Of a kindly and genial disposition he was always ready to help those less fortunate than himself, and to help them in such a wav that thev would be enabled thereby to help themselves. He had very many warm, personal friends, and by his death Rock Island lost one of her best and most progressive citizens. A man of kindly thought and generous deed he is remembered by those who knew him with sentiments of most sincere regard.

Walter A. Rosenfield

After completing the Rock Island public schools. Mr. Rosenfield entered St. John's Military School at Manlius, New York, and graduated from that school.

In 1898 the lingering and hopeless illness of his father. Morris Rosenfield. having made it impossible for him to longer assume the duties devolving upon the president of an industry like the Moline Wagon Company, his son, our subject, was elected to that office, which position he still holds. Called to assume the guiding power of a great and growing industry when he had barely attained his majority, and at an age when most yoimg men of his station are still pursuing their collegiate course, Mr. Rosenfield has displayed splendid ability in handling the large affairs that constantly demanded his attention. Under his management the plant has been enlarged and the output increased. Several new buildings have been added until the capacity of the factory is almost doubled.

Like his father, Walter A. Rosenfield. is a Republican, and although never seeking any political office for himself he takes an active interest in the trend of political affiairs. He makes his home at the family residence at the head of Eighteenth Street in Rock Island, a handsome brick and sandstone edifice, and the handsomest home in the eity. Mr. Rosenfield is a young man to whom large opportunities have been given to demonstrate what manner of man he is, and he has proved himself to be thoroughly capable. He has managed the affairs of the large industry, of which he is at the head, wisely and well.

Max Daniel Rosenfield

M.VX I). ROSENFIELD is a familiar name in business circles throughout Rock Island. Moline and Davenport as well. He was born in Muhringen, Wurttemberg, Germany, April 4, 1867, his parents being Daniel and Marie Rosenfield. He attended the public schools of his native town, He came to America at an early age, and later located in Chicago, where he resided from 1SS3 to 1901, when he removed to Moline.

A branch of the Chicago Brewing Company had been established in Rock Island in 1894, Sam Pells being the first manager. In 1889 this Brewing Company became a part of the great United Breweries Company of Chicago, and on February 13, 1901, Mr. Rosenfield assumed the management of the Rock Island branch, succeeding Mr. Pells. This position Mr. Rosenfield still holds, and during his management he has greatly increased the patronage of the Rock Island branch until it has reached a stage where there is now talk of putting up a fully equipped brewing plant in Rock Island as another link in the chain of breweries which this company controls.

October 4, 1893, Mr. Rosenfield was joined in marriage to Miss Rebecca Hi'rsch, the daughter of Simon Hirsch, one of Rock Island Covmty's early settlers. After a number of years of happy married life Mrs. Rosenfield died, Mr. Rosenfield later married her sister. Miss Tillie Hirsch.

Mr. Rosenfield's political affiliation is with the Republican Party. He is a Thirty-second Degree Mason, Past Chancellor of the Knights of Pythias and is a charter member of the Moline Lodge of Elks.

In religion he is an adherent of the Jewish faith, and is a trustee of Temple Emanuel, the house of worship of the Jewish congregation (Reformed) at Davenport, Iowa.

He is a man of great executive ability as has been demonstrated by his able management of the branch of which he has control. In his business dealings he is upright and conscientious, and in his social relations pleasant and affable, easily making and keeping friends.

Edward Holmes Guyer

ONE of the comparatively few whose genius for large undertaking and achievment determines the destinies of the localities in which they live, is the subject of this sketch - Edward Holmes Guyer. of Rock Island. He is a native of the city, having been born there October 30, 1853.

His parents were Judge Samuel S. Guyer and Annette. Holmes, daughter of the late George E. Holmes, of Port Byron. Judge Guyer was a pioneer of Rock Island County, of which he was county judge for a period of eight years, serving the county as sheriff" for like period. He was one of the original proprietors of the Town of Coal Valley, and was an incorporator of the Coal Valley Mining Company, also of the Rock Island and Peoria Railroad Company and of Chippiannock Cemetery.

Edward Holmes Guyer received his education in the Rock Island Grade and High Schools. He graduated from the Michigan ITniversity, receiving therefrom the Degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws.'

Mr. Guyer entered upon hi.s active busines.s career in tlie ('it>- of Rock Island in the year 1S79 when he o|M'iic'd his office and entered into the ]iractice of law, which he has followed ever since. He was secretary and attorney for the Rock Island and Milan Street Railway Company and of the Moline Central Street Railway Company, the first road in Illinois to be equipped with modern electric motors.

Mr. Guyer has been attorney and manager of the Rock Island Mutual Building Loan and Savings Association since its organization twenty-six years ago; has been director of the Chippiannock Cemetery Association since 1882, and its president for more than twenty years.

His interests in real estate have been very extensive. He platted in Rock Island, Guyer Sub-division, Guyer's First, Second and Third Additions, Edgewood Park, First and Second Additions to Edgewood Park, College Heights and Buford and Guyer Additions. In Moline he platted Prospect Park and First and Second Fairmount Additions. In the year 1895 platted the Town of East Moline on a tract of twelve hundred acres.

Mr. Guyer's public services to the Cities of Rock Island and INIoline have been great. He originated and carried to a successful conclusion the project of locating the Watertown Hospital for the Insane at Watertown, and the location of the small arms' plant at Rock Island Arsenal in which enterprise he spent six weeks at Washington to secure an appropriation from Congress. He was one of a delegation of three to the Head Camp of the Modern Woodmen of America held at Omaha, securing the removal of the head offices from Fulton to Rock Island.

Mr. Guyer has been twice elected a director of the Rock Island Club, and was its president in 1905. He represented the Seventh Ward of his citv in the years 1892 and 1893.

He is a Republican, but of the independent order. His marriage to Miss Constance Kimball, of Paris, Maine, was celebrated in the year 1886. Of this union the children are Alice F. Guyer and Edward F. Guyer.

Peter Fries

A MAN whose personality was strongly impressed on Rock Island County, was Peter Fries, distiller, banker, and man of affairs. Mr. Fries was born May 4, 1822, on the family estate known as "Guss-Hof," situated on the River Main, in Bavaria, Germany. He died July 20, 1902, in Rock Island, Illinois. His father's name was Johann, his mother's, Gertrude (nee Brand), of Reistenhausen.

Johann Fries was the owner of the Guss- Hof, the estate which had descended from father to son for many generations, and was situated near Stadt Prozelten.

Peter Fries, the subject of this sketch, was the youngest of eight children. After receiving his education, he assisted his father in the affairs of the estate, until he reached the age of manhood, when he sold his inheritance to his oldest sister.

The burden had been heavy, and being informed of the rare opportunities for thrift and energy in America, he came in the year 1849 to the United States, and located in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Here he engaged in the tannery business, but his investment proved unfortunate, and he continued but for one year, when he removed to Henry, Illinois, where he once more embarked in the leather business. After two years spent in Henry, he sold his establishment and removed to Davenport, Iowa, where he engaged in the manufacture of vinegar, which he continued until the year 1854. At this time he came to Rock Island and entered upon the business of distilling and rectifying

Now fortune smiled on Mr. Fries, and as he prospered he became widely interested in real estate. He was a charter member of the Rock Island National Bank, and of the People's National Bank. He was a director in both banks, and was vice-president of the latter up to the time of his death.

In religion Mr. Fries was a Catholic. Mr. Fries married Theresa Dauber August 5, 1852, in the City of Henry, Illinois. Of this union, two children were born: .\nna, who married the late Mr. Henry Schmidt, of St. Louis, and is now Mrs. James Connor, of Rock Island, Illinois. The other child, a son, died in infancy.

Mr. Fries died a successful man, the result of great energy, thrift and business ability. He was a man of great force of character, and in disposition modest and unassuming. His large and varied business connections made him an important factor of the business life of the city, to which his death was a great loss.

Isaac Negus

men in Rock Island, was a man whose belief in the future of the city he had chosen for his home took the substantial form of building enterprise.

He was born December 31, 1799, at Labions, Ondaga County, New York, where he received a common school education. After leaving school he found employment in the construction department of the Erie Canal in New York State, where he remained for three years. The experience and practical knowledge gained during those three years was a great service to him later, when he, with his partner, Mr. James Sanger, took a $150,000 contract for a part of the construction of the Illinois and .Michigan Canal, the scene of their operations being Chicago.

Mr. Negus removed from New York State in 1829, locating in Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, where for three years he was engaged in the mercantile business. From thence he moved to Chicago and later went to Galena, Illinois, where he was again engaged in mercantile lines until he came to Rock Island on October 8, 1844. Here he again took up mercantile life and made an enviable record in his business career.

He was also a member of the banking firm of Osborn, Negus & Company known as the Rock Island Bank, the firm at that time operating the principal bank in the city. He was also one of the owners of the first street car system between the cities of Rock Island and Moline. In those early days electricity had not supplanted the horse as a means of motive power, and indeed, a hack line which Mr. Negus started and operated between the Twin-Cities was a nticleus from which the first horse car system grew. Mr. Negus was also one of the stock holders in the Rock Island Watch Company, and held a large interest in the Rock Island Stove Company.

In 1876 Mr. Negus built the Rock Island Hotel which is still one of the city's leading hotels, and this building stands as a monument to the man who believed in the future of his city and who took pride in her welfare. He stood always ready to co-operate in every possible way with any movement that looked toward the best interests of Rock Island. He invested largely in city property and at the time of his death he had very extensive holdings. He was a man of a benevolent and charitable nature and was always ready to extend a helping hand to a needy fellow being.

Mr. Negus was a self-made man. A strong and vigorous character, he determined to achieve success and through his own unaided exertions he attained his goal.

On November 28, 1839, he nuu-ried Miss Jusiva Waldo, a native of Mansfield, Connecticut, the scene of their marriage being Section 3, Number 4, Summit Division of the Illinois and Michigan Canal. Four children were born of this union, they being Charles W., who died September 29, 1900; Anna S., wife of the late W. S. Knowlton, (Mrs. Knowlton's death occurred March 2.'), 1901); Henry, who died in infancy, and William O., of Rock Island.

Although Mr. Negus had no church affiliation, yet he was a libera] supporter of the Presbyterian Church, of which his wife, whose death occurred September 1, 1873, in Rock Island, was a devout and consistent member.

In politics Mr. Negus was a Democrat, and although personally he never cared to hold office, he took a great interest in political affairs. Yielding to the solicitations of his party in Rock Island he was once prevailed upon to become a candidate for mayor of his city, which was at that time overwhelmingly Republican. He was defeated by a small majority, his personality and well known interest in municipal affairs drawing to him many votes from the opposition. At one time he was president of the Old Settlers' Association of Rock Island County.

On November 27, 1883, Mr. Negus passed away at his home in Rock Island, his death bringing to a close a long and successful life. In his old age he retired from active participation in business affairs, but he never ceased to take the same keen and zealous interest in his home city, and in the success of the enterprises which he had helped in so large a measure to create. He was a man of whom it can be said that his convictions took form in acts, and who, in his prosperity, helped those less fortunate than himself.

Henry A. Ainsworth

HKNRY A. AINSWORTH, president of the Moline Trust and Savings Bank, and president of the Williams <t White Company, manufacturers of steam hammers and other special tools, is classed among the truly representative citizens of Moline, and dates his residence there since 1870. He is a native of Vermont, born in Williamstown, September 28, 1833. His father, Calvin Ainsworth, was also a native of Vermont, born in Brookfield, but in early life moved to Williamstown, where for fifty years he was a general merchant, well and favorably known in all that section of the country. He married Miss Laura Lynde, a native of Vermont, whose father, Cornelius Lynde, was the first circuit judge of Orange County, that state. The Ainsworth family was of English descent, the first of the name coming to New England in the Seventeenth Century and locating in Chelsea, Massachusetts. The Lyndes are also of English descent, having settled in this country prior to the Revolutionary War, several of the name taking part in that struggle.

The subject of this sketch grew to manhood in his native village, and in the district schools received his primary education which was supplemented by attendance in two academies. In 1853, at the age of twenty years, he left home and came west, locating in Geneseo, Henry County, Illinois, where he engaged in general merchandising on his own account. In this line he continued eight years, then sold out, and for a few years was engaged in the hardware and agricultural implement trade in the same place. In both lines he met with good success.

In 1870 Mr. Ainsworth came to Moline and secured an interest in the manufactory of Williams & White. Within a year later the business was incorporated, and Mr. Ainsworth was elected secretary of the company, a position he held for about fifteen years, when purchasing about three-fourths of its capital stock, he was elected president, a position he still retains. Under his general management the business has attained mammoth proportions, and is one of the leading industries of Moline. Soon after coming to Moline he took stock in the Moline National Bank, and also in the Moline Savings Bank, and for some years served as director and vice president of both institutions. His ability as a financier and good executive ability were recognized by his associates, and in 1894 he was elected president of the former institution, a position he is well qualified to fill. On his election as president of the Moline National Bank, he resigned the vice-presidency of the Moline Savings Bank, but was retained in its directory. April, 1892, he resigned as president of the Moline National Bank, when it was changed to Moline Trust and Savings Bank. He was elected president of that bank in 1894 and still holds that position.

On the 2Sth of July. 1858, Mr. Ainsworth was married at Ashland, Ohio, to Miss Sarah Andrews, a native of Ohio, and a sister of Mr. Andrews, president then of Kenyon College. After a happy married life of thirtythree years, Mrs. Ainsworth was called to her reward, dying in a hospital at Chicago, leaving two children, Harry and Mary. The former is a graduate of Oberlin College, and of the law department of Harvard University. He is a man of exceptionally good business ability, and is now secretary of the Williams & White Company. Mary is also a graduate of Oberlin College, and is a woman of rare attainments. At present she is making a tour in Europe. Mrs. Ainsworth was a sincere and honest Christian woman, one who delighted in the service of the Master, and when the summons came she was ready to go, having that perfect confidence and trust in the Blessed Redeemer and the life beyond the grave.

Miss Sarah F. Anderson, Jvme 30, 1896. She was born in Bucyrus, Ohio; moved to Geneseo, Illinois, in early life, and was a graduate of Rockford Female College. A teacher of recognized ability, a woman of grace and refinement, and of good executive ability, she was called to the presidency of her alma mater, and for six years occupied that position. She was still serving as such when her marriage with Mr. Ainsworth occurred. In February, 1896, Beloit College conferred on her the degree of M. A., a degree worthily bestowed.

Mr. Ainsworth has always taken a commendable interest in public affairs, though never to the neglect of his business interests. He believes it the duty of every American citizen to keep posted and act intelligently upon all questions affecting the people, and in pursuance of that idea he carefully reads the current literature of the day, and attends the public speaking as his time will admit.

The conventions of his party he also .attends, more frequently as a delegate than otherwise. Politically he is a strong Republican. Attaining his majority the year that party occurred, he gave adhesion to its principles, and has never deviated therefrom.

While a resident of Geneseo, Mr. Ainsworth was elected a member of the board of village trustees, and was the youngest member of that body. For six years he was a member of the state board of equalization, and was state senator from the Moline District from 1882 to 1886. He was later appointed by Governor Fifer president of the state board of labor statistics, which office he resigned when Altgeld was elected governor. In every position filled he discharged its duties faithfully and well, and to the satisfaction of all interested.

Religiously, Mr. Ainsworth and family are members of the First Congregational Church, of Moline, and in the work of the church he has always manifested an interest, being among its most liberal contributors. Fra- to build up his adopted city and county, and Sarah A., and Dorothy S. few men have a wider circle of friends and acquaintances throughout the state.

Harry Ainsworth

A .MONO the leading nuinufactiu'ers of Moline. Illinois, is Mr. Harry Ainsworth, vice-president of Williams, White & Company, manufactm-ers of heavy machine tools.

Mr. Ainsworth was born at Geneseo, Illinois, Ma}- 9, 1862. He is the son of Henry A. Ainsworth (whose biography appears in this book) and Sarah A., his wife. He was educated in Oberlin College (class of 1884) and Harvard Law School (class of 1887).

Although admitted to the bar of the State of Illinois. Mr. Ainsworth never practiced, but instead entered the office of Williams, White tt Company with his father, where he has continued ever since as secretary, treasurer and vice president.

Mr. Ainsworth has served as secretary of the Tri-City Manufacturers' Association for a number of years; also as member of the public library board, of which he is now president.

He is a member of the First Congregational Church of Moline, in which he has served in variovis offices, being now and for years past, superintendent of the Sundaj- School.

Ben C. Hartz

OXE OF the most extensive business enterprises conducted in the City of Rock Island is the wholesale drug house of Hartz & Bahnsen Company. It is a business that, although modest in its inception, has attained immense proportions, until today it occupies a magnificent four-story building on Third Avenue and Nineteenth Street, and for its successful operation requires the emploj-ment of a small army of clerks. It is one of the founders of this large concern and its president, whose life we propose to take up in this sketch, and as a specific example of what integrity, perseverance and industry can accomplish, it will certainly be of interest to every reader.

Ben C. Hartz was born December 5, 1856, in the town of Altona. Germany, his parents being .1. H. and Theresa Hartz. The father was a contractor and manufacturer of furniture. He died in his native land of Germany in 1871. After his death the mother made her home with her children in Rock Island, passing away September, 1888.

Their son came in the United States in 1873 and located in Rock Island. Previous to leaving Germany, he had served an apprenticeship of three years in a wholesale and retail drug and paint business in Hamburg. Having thus fitted himself as a practical pharmacist he found no difficulty in obtaining employment in his chosen line upon coming to Rock Island, and after having served for six years in that capacity as an employee of others, in 1879 he entered into partnership with F. W. Bahnsen in the retail drug business under the firm name of Hartz & Bahnsen. Their venture was a sviccessful and prosperous one, and in 1891 they disposed of their retail drug ijusiness and incorporated as Hartz & Bahnsen Company, niid from that date to the present time they have been actively engaged in the wholesale drug business exclusively. U])on the formation of the new corporation, Mr. Hartz was elected its president, an oHice that he has ever since lu'ld, devoting his time exclusively to the tluties and responsibilities which necessarily devolved upon him.

In I'cligious conviction Mr. Hartz is a Lutheran, and was confirmed in the Lutheran Evangelical Church. In politics he is a Republican. For twenty-seven years he has been a member of Ucal Lodge, No. 608, of Odd Fellows. He is also a director of the Rock Island Club. He is a progressive and respected citizen of Rock Island, and the business that he and his early partner, Mr. Hahnsen, have built up and cai'ry on, stands as a monument to the business sagacity of both those gentlemen.

Thomas Campbell

THOMAS CAMPBELL, one of the best known citizens of Rock Island County was born January 9, 1842, in liallyhaskin Parrish,. Comity Down, Ireland. His l)arents were John and Margaret (McQuaid) Campbell, and of their union four children were born: Mary (now Mrs. Rutherford), Margaret (deceased), Robert and Thomas, the subject of this sketch.

The Campbells were originally from Scotland. About two centuries past the forebears of Thomas Campbell removed from Scotland and settled in the North of Ireland.

February 11, 1850, when Thomas Camp- Ijcll was eight years of age, his parents, with their children, left Ireland for America, embarking on the Elizabeth Augusta, a sailing vessel bound for New Orleans. The journey consumed seven weeks and three days. Upon arriving at New Orleans the family, having determined to come to Rock Island, took boat and proceeded up the Mississippi, but at St. Louis the illness antl death of the mother comjielled a temporary cessation of jommey. Mrs. Campbell was buried at St. Louis and the rest of the s((rro\ving family continued upon their way to Rock Island, which they reached May 3, 1850.

On the first of May the fdllDwing year, Thomas Campbell was taken into the home of John A. Boyer and wife. He attended the common schools of Rock Island, going three or four months in the winter, and spending the other months in farm work. He made his home with the Boyers until the death of that couple. Having no children of their own, they had made Thomas Campbell their heir, and they left to him considerable property, consisting chiefly of real estate. He continued to live in the old Boyer homestead until 1901, when he built a new house about two hundred feet south of the old one and moved into it. This is the only time that Mr. Campbell has moved since he came to Rock Island in his boyhood.

On August 9, 1862, Mr. Campbell enlisted as a ])rivate in Company I, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Seven comjianies were mustered in Rock Island Coimty. All of them went to Dixon, Illinois, where they remained in camp three weeks. Then they were ordered to Chicago. While there one of the companies, (Capt. Williams') went into the Eighty-ninth Illinois, and another (Capt. Ashbaugh's) joined the Ninety-third Illinois. This left five companies from Rock Island County, and these, together with five companies from the southern part of state, formed the One Hundred and Twenty- sixth llliuois N'ohiiitiMT Infantry. While they were in camp at Chicago, Harper's Ferry iwul been tal<en. Some of tlie Union .soldiers who were captured at tliat Confederate victory were paroled and sent to Chicago to Camj) Douglas. One of them upon going to a sutler's tent to ptu-chase tal)acco was informed by the sutler's clerk that he "would not sell tobacco to a d coward." This insult spread through the camp like wildfire and everything in the tent was destroyed by the enraged soldiers, so keen was their resentment of the insult offered their comrade. The other sutlers' tents were guarded, or the same treatment would have been meted out to them. Diu'ing this melee, through the accidental discharge of a soldier's musket, Mr. Campbell was wounded, the ball passing through his left knee joint and crippling him for life, from the effect of which in 1900 he had to have his limb amputated four inches above the knee-joint.

Mr. Campbell was married September 7, 1864, to Mary J. Carson. Seven children were born to them, all of them living but one, who was killed in a railroad accident February 19, 1904.

Mr. Campbell has devoted his life to farming, his farm being located just outside the city limits of Rock Island, and being known to this day as "the old Boyer place." For twenty-five years he has been crop correspondent for Rock Island County.

In politics Mr. Campbell is a Republican and has been frequently honored by his party, having held the offices of school director, road commissioner, supervisor, county treasurer in 1890, and on November 6, 1906, he was elected as a representative to the Illinois Legislature from the Thirty-third Senatorial District, which is composed of Rock Island, Mercer and Henderson Counties. His first presidential vote was cast for Abraham Lincoln on iiis second term, 1864.

He is affiliated with the First Baptist Church in Rock Island, and has been prominent in church work. For twelve years he has been a trustee and for ten \-ears a deacon of his church.

Mansfield M. Sturgeon

ONE of the most brilliant and astute attorneys practising at the Rock Island ("ounty Bar is Mansfield M. Sturgeon, senior member of the legal firm of Sturgeon. Stelck & Sturgeon, a man whose great ability and profound learning as an attorney has been demonstrated in the trial of many important suits, as well as in sound counsel and legal advice.

He was born September 10, 1848, at Letart Falls, Ohio, his parents, being Oliver Hazard Perry Sturgeon and Mar\' Ellenor (Summers) Sturgeon. The father was born March 14, 1818, at Sistersville. Virginia, the date of the marriage of the senior Mr. and Mrs. Sturgeon being December 25, 1839. The death of the father occurred at Windom, Kansas, in 1902, he being then in his eighty-fifth year. The mother was born in Morgantown, Virginia, .June 11, 1819. She is still living, and is in her eighty-eighth year.

The grandfatlu'i- of our subject. William Sturgeon, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and was with the land forces at Lake Erie when Commodore Perry won the memorable naval battle there. Hence when his son was born he bestowed upon him the somewhat lengthy name of Oliver Hazard Perry Sturgeon, in honor of his hero. This rather ctimbrous cognomen was abbreviated by his boyhood companions to simply "Perry", and

M. M. Sturgeon

The Sturgeons were of Scotch-Irish ancestry, one of the members of that family settling in Uniontown, Pennsylvania, in an early day. The great-grandfather of our subject was born in Uniontown. When a young man he erected a grist mill on the banks of Union Creek, and was engaged in the milling and general merchandise business for many years.

After the war of 1812 William Sturgeon was commissioned colonel of militia by the then Governor of Virginia. Under the old militia laws of that state, annual drills or musters were held, which all the able-bodied men subject to military duty were required to attend. Colonel Sturgeon held these musters either at Morgantown or else at Wheeling, at that time included in old Virginia, but now one of the principal citie.s in West Virginia. Colonel Sturgeon died at Cincinnati, Ohio, in 185.5.

The family of our subject's mother was noted for longevity. His great-grandmother lived to be one hundred years old, and his great-great-grandmother was one hundred and one years of age at the time of her death.

In 1849, when Mansfield M. Sturgeon was six years of age, his parents removed from their Ohio home to St. Joseph, Missouri, and afterward to Rock Island, arriving in the latter city in 1851. This city has been Mr. Sturgeon's home ever since, with the exception of a few years just prior to, and during the first years of the Civil War, when his parents lived upon a farm in Buffalo Prairie Township in this county. He attended the public schools of Rock Island, and while his parents were upon the farm he attended the country schools tjf the lower end of the county and also a private academy at Edgington. After the close of the war he took a one year's course in the Rock River Seminary at Mount Morris, Illinois.

Sixt}--ninth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry to serve for three months. The regiment was assigned to duty at Camp Douglas, Chicago, guarding rebel prisoners, of which there were about eight thousand detained at that camp. The time of Mr. Sturgeon's enlistment expired the following September, and upon its expiration he, together with others whose enlistments had expired, volunteered, before being mustered out of service, to guard rebel prisoners from Camp Douglas to Vicksburg, Mississippi, where they were to be exchanged. This expedition from Camp Douglas to Vicksburg took in all about six weeks.

In the early winter of 1863-1864 Mr. Sturgeon again enlisted, this time in Company H, Forty-fifth Regiment of Illinois Volunteer Infantry, through Sergeant Wallace, who was then in Edgington upon recruiting service. After signing the enlistment roll Mr. Sturgeon heard nothing further in regard to the matter until the spring of 1864, when he received orders to report at Camp Yates, Springfield, Illinois. Upon reporting at Camp Yates he was assigned to the extremely unpleasant task of drilling raw recruits, which proved so exceedingly irksome and uncongenial that he longed to get away. Racking his brain in an endeavor to plan some way to obtain relief from the distasteful duty with the awkward squad, he one day chanced to meet Colonel E. M. Beardsley of the One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry. Colonel Beardsley had formerly been first lieutenant of Company F of the Si.xtyninth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, the company and regiment to which Mr. Sturgeon was attached upon his first enlistment, and the two men were also old friends. Mr. Sttirgeon told the colonel how anxious he was to leave Springfield. Colonel Beardsley proposed that Mr. Sturgeon accompany him, as he (Beardsley) was about to leave Springfield to join his regiment which was then located at De Vails Bluff, Arkansas. This invitation was eagerly accepted liy the yiiuiif; man, and they then set about arranging for the transfer of Mr. Sturgeon to Colonel Beardsley's regiment. That same afternoon Mr. Sturgeon received orders to report to the adjutant general of the state. Arriving at his office he found Colonel Beardsley alread.y there. Here Mr. Sturgeon's enlistment papers were changed from Company H, Forty-fifth Illinois Volunteer Infantry to Company B, One Hundred and Twenty-sixth Illinois ^'olunteer Infantry. This concluded the necessary formalities, and Mr. Sturgeon accompanied Colonel Beardsley to De Vails Bluff, Arkansas. On the twentythird of June, 1864, Mr. Sturgeon was in the engagement at Clarendon, Arkansas. Shortly afterward he was detailed for special duty in the provost marshal's oflice at De Vails Bluff, where he served as clerk until September of that same year. Then he was ordered to report to the provost marshal general of the Department of Arkansas, at Little Rock. He was assigned to duty in this office, and remained there imtil the close of the war.

After the close of the war, Mr. Sturgeon again resumed his residence in Rock Island County and has never-changed it since. From 1866 to March, 1869, he taught school in the town of Milan. In the latter month and year he was appointed county superintendent of schools, to fill out the unexpired term of the Hon. Wm. H. Gest, who had resigned. Mr. Sturgeon studied law with the legal firm of Gest & Hawley and was admitted to the bar of Illinois in Jime, 1872. The fotu'th of July of that year he celebrated by opening a law office of his own hanging out his sign "Mansfield M. Sturgeon, Lawyer."

On June 23, 1870, occurred the marriage of Mansfield M. Sturgeon .-ind .Miss Jennie B. ^lattison, a young lady of Mount Morris, Illinois. To them four children were born: Grace .M., the wife of J. S. Freeman, who resides in Moline; Mansfield, who died at the age of three and a half j'ears; Rollin S., a graduate of Northwestern University anil of

Harvard Law School, and who is now a member of the law firm of Sturgeon, Stelck & Sturgeon; and Miss Jennie B. Sturgeon, who is also a graduate of Northwestern University and who is now principal of the English Department of the Monmouth High School.

In politics Mr. Sturgeon has always been a staunch Republican, and he is recognized as one of the leaders of his party in Rock Island County. He has several times been honored by his party, the first time by the appointment as county superintendent of schools and afterwards by election to that office three successive terms; then by his election to the office of state's attorney for Rock Island County in 1888 to fill the unexpired term of Patrick O'Mara, who died a short time after being elected to office. Mr. Sturgeon served as state's attorney until 1892. He was a vigorous and efficient prosecutor and conducted the affairs of the office in a competent and lawyer-like manner. In 1892 he was elected a member of the state board of equilization for the Eleventh Congressional District of Illinois, and served until December 1, 1896.

As a lawyer Mansfield M. Sturgeon is beyond question the peer of any attorney practicing at the Rock Island County Bar. Although a brilliant man and a talented lawyer he is modest and unassuming, and without the slightest trace of ostentation in his manner. He has a large number of friends throughout Rock Island County, and is covmted one of the good, substantial citizens in the community in which he resides.

Stephen Henry Velie

THE City of Moline owes its prominence throughout the United States, and in fact, throughout the entire civilized world, chiefly to its manufactories. And to Stephen Henry N'elie. deceased, who, diu'ing his life, was conspicuously identified with several of that city's leading manufacturing establishments, Moline is greatly indebted for the preeminence she now maintains in industrial enterprise.

Mr. Velie was born April 21, 1830, near Hyde Park, Dutchess County, New York, his boyhood, until he arrived at the age of fifteen years, being spent upon his father's farm in that county. During this period he attended the public schools of that locality. In 1845 he went to New York City, where he made his home with his grandfather, Stephen Herrick, who was engaged in the commission business. While with his grandfather. Mr. Velie obtained valuable business training and experience which was of great advantage to him in later life. After remaining for some time in the home of his grandfather, Mr. Velie went to Poughkeepsie in the same state, and in 1847 came west, locating in St. T>ouis, Missouri. Here he was employed in the wholesale grocery house of Edward J. Gay it Company. Mr. Gay, the head of the firm, made his home in Louisiana, and was afterwards elected to congress from his district in that state. At this time Mr. Velie lived with him at his Louisiana home and managed his large plantation for a period of two years during his employer's term in congress. He again returned to St. Louis where he remained until 1854 when he came to Rock Island. For five years after removing to this city he had charge of the C. C. Webber & Company's foundry, at the e.xpiration of which time he went to Princeton, Illinois^ where he was for two years engaged in the mercantile business.

In 1863 Mr. Velie returned to this locality and entered into partnership with John Deere, the pioneer plow manufacturer of the west. In 1868, when the concern was incorporated, Mr. Velie was elected to the offices of secretary and treasurer and held that position until the time of his death, which occurred February 14, 1895.

In addition to the responsibilities and duties devolving upon him in consequence of his connection with Deere & Company, ilr. Velie was largely interested in numerous other financial and manufacturing enterprises. These interests and holdings he accpiired from time to time during his life in consequence of his business judgment and acumen in commercial affairs. Every enterprise with which he identified himself prospered, and as the substantial fruits of these increased, Mr. Velie was constantly seeking new fields of investment for his large returns, so that at the time of his death, Mr. ^'elie, in addition to possessing large lumber holdings in the south, was interested in the stone quarries at Le Claire, Iowa, as president of the Moline Central Railway Company, the Moline Water Power Company and the Peoples Power Company.

On May 10, 1860, Mr. Velie married Miss Emma C. Deere, daughter of John Deere, the founder of Moline 's great plow works, and of this marriage five children were born, they being Charles Deere Velie, one of the present managers of Deere & Company's branch house at Minneapolis, Minnesota; Stephen Henry, Jr., manager of that firm's branch house at Kansas City, Missouri, and also of the Velie Harness Company of the same city; Willard Lamb, president of the Velie Carriage Company, of Moline; John Deere Velie, who died August 14, 1870, and Grace Deere Velie, the wife of Stuart Harper of Rock Island.

In politics Mr. Velie was originally a Whig, l)ut later joined the ranks of the newly formed Republican part}' which had taken a firm and decided stand against the iniquity of the ownership of human beings. To this latter partj' he gave his allegiance and support throughotit his remaining years, always rejoicing in its successes and lamenting its defeats. He was constantly contributing both his personal influence and his means to his party's cause, but never sought political honor for himself, the only public office he

Mr. Velie was a man of religions conviction and was a consistent menii)er of the Congregational Church at Moline, and in maintaining and fnrthering church work, he was always a liberal contributor.

He was a Mason, belonging to the Order of Knights Templar and was also an Odd Fellow, and in his fraternal, as well as in his domestic business, political and other relations in life, he set and maintained a high standard for himself.

Mr. ^'elie was a large employer of labor^ with whom he dealt fairly, equitably and liberally, and with whom his relations and dealings were at all times fraternal and never tj'rannical.

He was a splendid type of citizen. He possessed a broad and comprehensive understanding of the trend of public events. Although actively engaged in business, with great interests demanding his most careful attention, he never became so engrossed in matters pertaining to finance or commerce that he was difficult of approach. He was a man of suave and genial temperament, ready to help those less fortunate than himself, and to help them in the way best suited to their peculiar need. In his hours of relaxation, he was a most delightful companion having the rare power of discovering and adapting himself to the environment he might be placed in, and so he was held in warm regard by all who knew him as a man of great congeniality. He was devotedly attached to his home and family, and in return he reaped the reward of their enduring devotion. The best biographj- of Stephen Henry Velie is written in the memory of those who knew him, and, knowing him, found him to be possessed of those qualities that are found only in a high standard of manhood.

Colonel Elhanan John Searle

SOLDIER, jurist and publicist, a man of many attainments and widely diversified talent, was Elhanan J. Searle, the subject of this sketch. He was born January 18, 1835, at Royalton, Ohio, coming to Rock Island County with his parents when about two years of age, and died at Rock Island, August 18, 1906. Colonel 8earle, or Judge Searle as he was perhaps more familiarly known throughout Rock Island County, received his education at the Rock River Seminary, an institution located at Mount Morris, Illinois, and after completing his studies in that school, which was largely preparatory in its scope, he entered Northwestern University at Evanston; from which institution he graduated with the highest honors of his class; and at the time of his death was the oldest alumnus of that institution. After the completion of his collegiate course he decided to fit himself for entrance to the legal profession, and with that end in view he entered the law office of John L. Beveridge, afterwards Governor of Illinois, at Chicago. He remained in Mr. Beveridge 's office until November, 1859, when he entered the law office of Abraham Lincoln and William H. Herndon, the firm being known as Lincoln & Herndon, at Springfield, and here he remained continuing the sttidy of his chosen profession until March, 1861. Daily association with a character such as Abraham Lincoln's and the intimacy naturally arising from their relation as student and mentor, must have made a deep impression upon the j'Otmg man, and doubtless exerted a formative influence upon the whole course of his after life. As we can view it now, such an opportunity was a priceless one, and even in those days it was a most excellent thing for any young man aspiring to become a law3'^er, to be taken into the office of Lincoln & Herndon, for Abraham Lincoln was then recognized as one of the leaders of the Illinois Bar, although Lincoln, the lawyer, is now overshadowed by that more majestic and sublimely beautiful character as president and martyr. The intimacy thus arising between Abraham Lincoln and his student continued until the tragic death of the president, considerable correspondence passing between the two.