biographies of Kendall County

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KENDALL COUNTY BIOGRAPHIES

Ament, Frank E. - In the days when Kendall County was still a wilderness of prairie and timberland, even the most optimistic of the pioneers would never had dared to imagine its present prosperity, and yet they worked steadily ahead to produce just these results. Without them, with their hopes and ambitions which made them willing to endure the privations of those early years, Kendall County would still be practically worthless wild land. AMonght the well known pioneer families of this region is that bearing the name of Ament, and a good representative of it is Frank E. Ament of Kendall Township. He was born in this township, May 27, 1861, a son of Chester D. Ament, who was also born in Kendall County, April 24, 1833, a son of Edward G. and Emily A. (Harris) Ament, pioneers of this section. They settled here soon after the Black Hawk War, taking up government land, afterwards living upon it until death claimed them. They were typical pioneers, who spent their days trying to secure better conditions for their children, and cheerfully supported a school and church in order to advance the moral and educational standard of the neighborhood.

Ament , Chester D. -was married in Kendall County, March 24, 1857, to Calantha M. Ives, born in Whilting, Addison County, Vt., October 3, 1837, daughter of Dr. Isaac and Mehetible (Moulton) Ives. Soon after marriage he settled on land in Kendall County on which he lived six years and then moved to Fox Township, adjoining Fox Station, where he lived for a number of years and died on the farm, June 2, 1879. About 2 years later his widow moved to the village of Pavilion and, in 1907, to Yorkville, where she now resides. They were both members of the Baptist Church in Fox Township and gave freely of time and money to promote its growth. Quiet, unassuming people, they did their full duty as they saw it, and brought up their children in the fear of the Lord. Five children were born to them: George R., deceased; Frank E.; Harry E., deceased; Cora M., deceased; and Nellie C., wife of John Wesche of Kendall County.

Ament, Frank E. - was married in his native county, January 16, 1884, to Amelia Dunn, born in Kendall County, December 4, 1862, daughter of John and Isabella (Harkness) Dunn, the former of whom was born in Gloucestershire, England, October 17, 1824, son of the Rev. Joseph and Eliza (Hitchcock) Dunn. They emigrated to Kendall County in 1842, he taking up government land, later returning to Yorkville which continued his home until his death, December 21, 1901. His wife was born in Roxboroughshire, Scotland, May 18, 1825, daughter of Andrew and Janette (Penman) Harkness, who came from Scotland to New York State in 1840, and in 1850, to Kendall County. Mrs. Dunn still survives, and lives in Yorkville. They were the parents of nine children, five of whom still survive: Jeanette, Eliza, Mary, Amelia, and Frank. The Dunns were prominent people here, and made the neighborhood better and richer for their residence in it.
Mr. and Mrs. Ament have had five children: Jennie Bell, born June 10, 1885; Callie Amanda, born December 7, 1887; Harold Edgar, born January 9, 1890; John Chester, born October 29, 1891; and Ruth Alta, born January 24, 1894. Mr. Ament has a magnificent farm in Kendall Township, which he is operating scientifically, and with excellent results. He is patient and far-seeing, and understands how to get the best results from his property. Contributed by Bob & Jane Fey

Burroughs, Daniel Sr. - Daniel Burroughs, Sr., was born in Windsor, Connecticut, on May 28, 1755. He volunteered for the Revolution four separate times, in 1775, 1776, 1777, and 1780. He served at Fort Ticonderoga, at the battle of Saratoga when General Burgoyne was defeated, and at Royalton, Vermont. Many years later, at age 82, in 1837, he moved to Kendall County (then Kane Co) with his son Daniel, Jr., and his family. They claimed nearly 570 acres just north of the Fox River and then sold farm-sized portions of the property to other settlers as they arrived in the area south of Plano. He died at age 88 on October 18, 1843, and was buried in the small pioneer Griswold Cemetery on land that he had once owned. [Biography written by Kristy Gravlin, Plano Historian. View the SAR's website on Daniel Burroughs at http://pages.prodigy.net/parrish55/FoxValleyDanielBurroughs.html)

Hollenback, George Mattias, for the past twenty years an honored resident of Aurora, Ill., is widely known in Kendall County, his place of birth, where, for many years of a busy life he was identified with public affairs. Mr. Hollenback bears a historic name of Kendall County and enjoys the distinction of having been the first white child born within its confines. His birth took place December 1, 1831, in what was then a portion of LaSalle County, Ill., but which, when he was eleven years old, became Kendall County. He is the seventh child and fifth son of George and Sophia (Sidle) Hollenback.
The first one of this family of Hollenback made his appearance in Philadelphia, Pa., 200 years ago, coming from Wurttemberg, Germany, and supposed to have been a resident of a town or city of the name of Hollenback. He established his family at a place called Faulkner Schawmm, a small village supporting an Evangelical Lutheran Church, of which he and his family were zealous members. He died July 20, 1736, leaving considerable of an estate. He had four children: George, Mary, John, and Matthias. John Hollenback learned the trades of shoemaker and tanner. The next record found of John Hollenback was a resident of Lower Paxton, Pa., near Harrisburg. There he was joined in marriage to Eleanor Jones and became, so to speak, the ancestor of all the Hollenbacks bearing relation to George M. Hollenback, of Aurora, Ill. To the above marriage there were born two daughters and three sons, the latter, George, Matthias, and John.
George Hollenback, son of John, married Hannah Barton and they had the following children: Ellen, John, Clark, Matthias, Mary, Sarah, Jane, Elizabeth, George, Hannah and Ann. Of this family George Hollenback, the eighth in order of birth, was born in 1792, and he became a farmer and a miller. He married Sophia Sidle, who was born in New Jersey, in 1799, and they became the parents of six children while residents of Ohio and six more in Illinois. They continued to live in the county in Ohio in which they were married until the fall of 1829, when they started in a "prairie schooner" for Illinois. After many hardships they arrived at Gopher Hill, Ind., where they found relatives and friends with whom they remained for a short time before continuing their journey. At Cedar Point they crossed the Vermillion River, near what is now called Oglesby, where they remained for one year and then journeyed still farther, finding a resting place in the grove that is still known as Hollenback Grove, which, after being surveyed, was found to be a part of the principal meridian - otherwise Fox Township.
George M. Hollenback was reared by his parents whom he recalls with reverence and remained a member of his father's household practically until twenty-five years of age. He taught during a part of three years the common school in his neighborhood and spent some time outside his native State. He early became interested in politics and in 1856 he was elected Clerk of the Circuit Court of Kendall County and four years later was re-elected to that office. During the Civil War he was appointed Kendall County enrolling officer and held the same until he secured a correct enrollment. In 1870 he was admitted to the bar and received from the Judge of the Circuit Court the office of Master in Chancery which he held for many years. In 1872 he was elected a member of the Legislature for two years for the counties of DeKalb, Kendall and Grundy. He was a Republican then and has never changed his political affiliation. Mr. Hollenback owns 560 acres of real estate, more or less situated on Sections 21, 22, 23, and 15, in Township 36, north of Range 6. While not identified with any particular church body his is friendly to all denominations.
In 1859, Mr. Hollenback, married Julia A. Woodworth, who died in 1886, leaving one daughter, Stella, now the widow of Edward Welles, of Wilkesbarre, Pa. In 1888 Mr. Hollenback married Frances F. Lewis, then the widow of Dr. C. H. Houghman, of Milwaukee. Contributed by Bob & Jane Fey

Steward, George H. - In recalling the prominent men of Kendall County who have long since passed off the scene of life, the name of George Hollister Steward comes to mind, for he was identified very prominently with important affairs in this and other sections. He was born in Pennsylvania, September 9, 1826, and died July 9, 1885.
The Steward family came to Kendall County, Ill., and located on land near Plano, in 1838, and George H. Steward remained with his older brother, Lewis Steward, on the home farm until after his marriage and for some time conducted a wagon shop in Plano. He had great natural mechanical ability, and in 1860 he went to Holly Springs, Miss., where he entered a foundry, where his skill was so quickly recognized that he was sent on to New Orleans to superintend the erecting of buildings with the iron made at Holly Springs foundry. He was entirely competent and it seemed as if a great future was opening up before him. It was while he was thus engaged at New Orleans that Fort Sumter was fired upon, and he remained in that far Southern city only long enough to complete the contracts already taken. Business was then practically at a standstill there, and he then returned to Holly Springs, but served in the Union Army under General Sherman for a short time before that, although, for the purposes of personal safety, he concealed the fact and continued to work in the foundry making cannons for the Confederates. When General Sherman came back to Tennessee, Mr. Steward reached the Union lines in an army wagon and escaped into Kentucky and in a box car finally reached Cairo, Ill., and his home in July, 1862. Those were days of trouble and danger and the half has never been written of the adventures through which men of both North and South passed.
Mr. Steward after this experience confined his labors to Illinois and became very prominent in construction work after the great Chicago fire of 1871. Subsequently he entered the employ of the Deering people and for some nine years was superintendent of the Deering Works at Plano and erected and lived in the house that is now utilized as the office building for the Independent Harvester Company. Still later he was called to Chicago, where he was connected with the development of the new straw binder, for the Deering Company, and late in life looked after a farm near Millhurst. He had been long recognized as a man of exceeding ability in his line and his long connection with great manufacturing corporations sufficiently proved it. All his life Mr. Steward attributed a large measure of his success to his admirable wife.
On October 7, 1850, Mr. Steward was married, in Little Rock Township, Kendall County, Ill., by Archibald Sears, Esq., to Miss Mary A. Carver, a daughter of David and Sharley (Tarbox) Carver. Mrs. Steward was born in Connecticut, one of a family of eleven children. One sister, Emeline, married John Hollister; Rachel married Achibald Sears; William and another brother, a physician, settled in Steuben County, Ind.; and Randolph and Frank, both of whom lived for some years in Kendall County, when the former moved to Michigan and the latter to Chicago. From childhood Mary A. Carver had been ambitious, and after her brothers and sisters had left the old Connecticut home and found congenial surroundings in the West, she determined to also venture, in the meanwhile equipping herself with good education and learning self-supporting trades. She was nineteen years of age when she started for Illinois, and earned her own way, teaching three terms of school, working as a tailoress and as a weaver in a factory. Later, both in single and married life, she was an admirable woman, courageous and resourceful. Two of the children born to Mr. and Mrs. Steward died in childhood, the three survivors being: Clara, who is the wife of Samuel Taylor, a farmer in Tennessee; Nina C., who is the wife of Frank Blunt, who is a railroad official on the Great Western, St. Jo. & Mo.; and Herbert, who is a farmer. Contributed by Bob & Jane Fey