is an indefatigable worker, and thoroughly honest, and no lawyer, young or old, in the city of
Chicago is more trustworthy.

Mr. Burke is also a good classical scholar, keeps well read up in the sciences, and is an elegant
writer on literary and philosophical subjects. In short, has a well fed and growing mind, and is a
rising man. Mr. Burke affiliates with the republican party, and takes some interest in local poli-
tics, not enough, however, to lead him to neglect his professional pursuits.

Mr. Burke was married December 5, 1878, to Miss Myra Webster, daughter of William V. Web-
ster, of Rockford, Illinois, and they have one child.



WILLARD SCOTT.

NAPER VILLE.

AJGUST 26, 1826, the schooner Sheldon, Captain Sherwood, was riding at anchor upon the
quiet, waters of Lake Michigan, ten miles north of Chicago, off Gross' Point, as the place
was then called, and with the small boat called a yawl the family of Stephen J. Scott were then
and there landed. The crew of the vessel went ashore and assisted in the erection of a rude
habitation with posts, poles and blankets, after which they sailed away, leaving the Scotts resi-
dents of the state of Illinois, and occupying the first house built at what is now Evanston.

This incident is mentioned thus prominently that the future historian, in his search for facts
and dates, may pause as he turns these leaves, and exclaim, " Here we have a pioneer indeed! "
The father, mother, two sons (of whom the subject of this sketch was the eldest) and four daugh-
ters constituted the family. The father, Stephen J. Scott, was in early life a seafaring man, having
been the owner and master of a schooner bearing his own name, engaged in the coast trade along
the eastern shore of our country. The mother, whose maiden name was Hadassah Trask, was a
relative of General Israel Putnam, of revolutionary fame. They were married in Connecticut,
and moved from Hartford, in that state, to Unadilla, Otsego county, New York, where Willard
was born, April 20, 1808; and when he was eight years old the family removed to Maryland, where
they remained ten years, during which time he attended school. His opportunities for education
were limited, being confined to the district school, except for a short time when under private
tuition in mathematics, by the liberality of Alanson Webb, a wealthy Baltimore merchant, who
was attracted toward the promising youth, and solicited the privilege of adopting and educating
him for any business he might desire to follow.

Willard was anxious to become a sailor, and command a vessel, as his father had done before
him, and his studies under the private tutor were in this direction; but to his credit it may be
stated that the entreaties of his mother, to whom a sailor's life seemed full of peril, induced him
to abandon this idea. In the year 1825 his father determined to seek a new home in the West,
and in pursuance of this determination he left Maryland with his family, stopping awhile in New
York, and then starting for Saint Joseph, Michigan.

Arriving at Buffalo, the father shipped the household goods, going with them by sail vessel to
Detroit, while the family, under charge of Willard, started overland through Canada for the same
place. The old gentleman, arriving before the family, sent his goods forward by a schooner, and
awaited the arrival of his wife and children, who joined him there in a few days. Boats not
being numerous, or reliable as to time, it was necessary that some one should cross the country
to meet the goods at Saint Joseph.

This perilous journey was undertaken by Willard, then eighteen years of age, in company with
a man from Ohio. There was not an inhabited house upon the route, they had no guide, and
with the exception of blazed trees and Indian trails leading in various directions, they had no
pathway through the dense Michigan forests. With a horse upon which to pack their camp



LIBRARY

OF THE
UNIVERS1TV of ILLINOIS



UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 847

equipage, they made the march (foraging largely on mother Nature), in two weeks, arriving ten
days ahead of the boat, during which time they lived entirely on corn and potatoes obtained
from a Frenchman upon an island in the river.

About ten days after Willard left Detroit, the remainder of the family made the trip around
the lake in the Sheldon, going first to Chicago and then crossing to Saint Joseph. While passing
Gross" Point, before reaching Chicago, old Mr. Scott was much attracted by the beauty of the
place, and was quite enthusiastic in his praise; and afterward being less pleased with the east
side, the captain of the vessel offered to, and did, recross the lake and land the family as stated
at the commencement of this sketch.

At that time the inhabitants were principally Indians. There was an Indian agent, Doctor Alex-
ander Walcott, at Chicago. John Kenzie, agent of the American Fur Company, David McKee, a
government blacksmith, and a few others, mostly French or half breeds in the employ of the
American Fur Company, were also there. The prevailing languages were French and Indian,
and with these Willard became very familiar under a tutelage that might well be denominated a
free school in the largest sense. His life for the next ten or twelve years was made up of those
incidents which pertain to the freedom, fun and frolic, as well as the perils and privations, of the
wildest kind of frontier life.

He was a renowned hunter, being counted the second-best shot in all the Pottawattomie tribe
of Indians, by whom he was greatly respected. Indeed, he had a way of compelling their respect
by the utter fearlessness which he manifested in his intercourse with them, eluding their wily
tricks, beating them at their own games, and proving himself more than a match for them in all
the cunning of their peculiar life. They gave him the appellation of Kish-Wash, by which name
he became well known throughout the entire region. The title signifies a species of eagle, and
was, by those conferring it, considered a highly honorable one.

During the hunting excursions of these days (and here is an unwritten volume of romantic
frontier life) he made the acquaintance of Caroline Hawley, at Holderman's Grove, to whom he
was married July 21, 1829, at her father's house. Her father, Pierce Hawley, moved from Ver-
mont, in 1818, to Vincennes, Indiana, when she was six or seven years of age, and when she was
ten years old he removed to Illinois, where he lived at various places, settling at Holderman's
Grove in 1825, where Willard was married.

In the fall of 1830, Willard, with his father, father-in-law and their families, settled at the
junction of the two branches of the Du Page River, three miles south of Naperville, where they
remained, engaged in agriculture, eight years or thereabouts. These families are entitled to the
distinction of being the pioneers of the settlement which soon extended several miles along the
river into what has since become Will and Du Page counties. At that time Cook county included
the present counties of Lake, McHenry, Du Page and Will, and Chicago was the voting place for
the whole county. At the election of 1830 there were thirty-two votes polled in the county, and
old Mr. Scott's name heads the poll list of that year.

In 1832 the Black Hawk war broke out, and the whole settlement was compelled to remove to
Fort Dearborn, Chicago, for safety, where they remained until after July, when General Scott
moved on to Dixon, putting the government troops between the settlers and their foes. Wil-
lard's knowledge of the habits and wiles of the Indians, and frontier craft generally, made him
an exceedingly useful man to the settlers during those perilous months, full of incidents of thrill-
ing interest, which cannot well be given here.

In the spring of 1838 Willard removed to the village of Naperville, where his father had pre-
ceded him the previous year. He built the Naperville Hotel, keeping the same eight years, in those
days when to keep a hotel was to have a constituency covering more territory than several congres-
sional districts do now. He then commenced merchandising, and for nearly twenty years, most
of the time with his eldest son, Thaddeus (since deceased, leaving one son, Willie H.), continued
the business by which the firm name of Willard Scott and Company has been made historical.

Immediately after the close of the late war he retired from active business life as a merchant,
82



S|S UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.

in which, however, he has been succeeded by his son, Willard Scott, Jr., who continues the busi-
ness under the same firm name, to this day.

During the time of his residence in Naperville he has been president, first of the Du Page
County Bank, and afterward of the Bank of Naperville; and since he retired from mercantile life
has been doing business as a private banker; and the banking house of Willard Scott and Com-
pany is considered one of the absolutely safe institutions of its class in northern Illinois.

Mr. Scott is a regular attendant upon, though not a member of the Congregationalist Church
at Naperville, which is the oldest church organization in the region, dating back to 1833. In his
religious views he may be classed as orthodox, except for a strong leaning toward the belief in
the final future salvation of all men through the infinite atonement of the Saviour of mankind.

In politics he is a democrat. He voted for General Jackson, and would like to continue to do
so as long as he lives, and all the more because he believes that the remains of the old hero could
hardly refrain from exclaiming, " By the Eternal! " when the rebel soldiery was tramping over
his tomb. Stephen A. Douglas was his model politician, and with him he believes in " obeying
the laws and supporting the constitution."

He had the heart of a loving father, as well as of an American patriot, in the late war of the
rebellion, for his son who bears his name marched with Sherman to the sea, and through
Georgia, most of the time in command of the company of the 105 th Illinois regiment, of which
he was lieutenant; and his comrades all say he was bravery exemplified, and as nobly good and
truly kind as he was brave.

Mr. and Mrs. Scott have both been residents of Illinois for half a century, and all that time
have lived near Chicago. They have seen and helped to produce the remarkable progress of this
section, that challenges parallel in all history; and now at his fine residence in Naperville, built
upon the very spot where his father lived fifty years ago, Mr. Scott, with his whitened locks,
passes his declining years, and moves around amid his children, grandchildren and neighbors,
enjoying the confidence, esteem and respect of everybody.

Mr. Scott's life has been a continuous exhibition of sterling integrity and manliness. He has
acquired a fortune. He has been in the best sense successful. He has helped to build up his
town. He has made his mark upon the region in which he has lived, given to those who may
succeed him an example of good habits and stern, manly honesty, and with the calm dignity and
restful confidence of the evening of such a life he awaits the message, "Come up higher."



DANIEL J. SCHUYLER.

-CHICAGO.

DANIEL J. SCHUYLER was born in the town of Florida, Montgomery county, New York,
February 16, 1839. His father, Jacob D. Schuyler, was a farmer, and was a descendant of
one of the oldest and best-known Knickerbocker families, so prominent in the history of the state
of New York. General Philip Schuyler, of revolutionary fame, was of the same family. The
subject of this mention was educated in the schools of the section where he was born, and finally
in Union College. Soon after leaving college, and in 1861, he entered the law office of Hon
Francis Kernan, Utica, New York, the late United States senator from that state. After com-
pleting his course of study, he was admitted to the bar in January, 1864, and came to Chicago
the same month, and has been engaged in practice here since. He was alone in practice until
January, 1873, when he formed a partnership with Hon. George Gardner, which continued until
the latter was elected to the bench of the superior court in 1880, when he formed a partnership
with George A. Follansbee, which firm, Schuyler and Follansbee, is now doing a successful law
business, and is one of the most reliable in this city. As a lawyer he is thorough and painstak-
ing. He is especially accurate in the preparation of his case, and never goes into court without
knowing all about it, and makes so clear a presentation that judge and jury understand it as well



UNITED STA TES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONAR Y. 849

as himself. His success in his practice is the result of fine mental endowments, literary acquire-
ments, industry, application and the most scrupulous honor and integrity. He has niceness of
perception, breadth of comprehension ; is energetic, persevering, practical, and has none of the
meteoric in his composition ; he is progressive, but conservative and well balanced.

As an advocate before a jury he is one of the most effective speakers at this bar. In manner
lie is pleasing, in matter logical and convincing. He is candid, sincere and fair, and his integrity
and honor being known, he carries conviction to the minds of an honest jury. He is quiet, dig-
nified, decided, and has great firmness of character. He has the mien, bearing and make-up of
the educated and well bred gentleman that he is. He is in the front rank in the profession, and
has the respect and esteem of his brother lawyers. Mr. Schuyler was united in marriage, in Sep-
tember, 1865, with Mary, daughter of William H. Byford, a well known physician of this city.
They have had four children, two of whom survive.



WILLIAM HEATH BYFORD, M.D.

CHICAGO.

WILLIAM HEATH BYFORD was born March 20, 1817, in the village of Eaton, Ohio, and
is the son of Henry T. and Hannah Byford. During his infancy his parents removed
to the falls of the Ohio River, now New Albany, whence in 1821 the family changed its place of
residence to Hindostan, Martin county, Indiana. Here, while William was in his ninth year, his
father died, and, through stress of circumstances, he was compelled to abandon the course of ele-
mentary studies which he had been pursuing in the neighboring country school. Five years
later he was apprenticed to a tailor in Palestine, Illinois, with whom he remained two years, and
then entered the employ of another tailor at Vincennes, Indiana, where, during the ensuing four
years, he not only worked diligently at his trade, but, with the aid of books, bought and bor-
rowed, mastered the structure of his native tongue, acquired a knowledge of the Latin, Greek
and French languages, and studied with especial care physiology, chemistry and natural history.
About eighteen months prior to the expiration of his term of apprenticeship, he decided to devote
his life and energies to the study of medicine, and subsequently placed himself under the profes-
sional guidance and guardianship of Doctor Joseph Maddox, of Vincennes, Indiana. After a suf-
ficent length of time consumed in arduous and incessant study, he passed the required examina-
tion, and began the practice of his profession in Owensville, Gibson county, Indiana, August 8,
1838. In 1840 he removed to Mount Vernon, Indiana, and in 1845, after having attended lectures,
applied for and received a regular graduation and accredited diploma from the Ohio Medical
College. In 1847, after resuming his practice, which had been temporarily interrupted by his
studies, he performed and published an account of that surgical operation denominated the
" Csesarean section." This was followed by contributions to medical journals which attracted the
attention of the medical community, and gave their author a respectable reputation for literary
acquirements, intellectual penetration and scientific knowledge. In October, 1850, he was elected
to the chair of Anatomy in the Evansville, Indiana, Medical College, which he filled with ability
for two years, when he was transferred to the chair of Theory and Practice in the same institu-
tion, in which responsible capacity he acted until the extinction of the institution in 1854. Dur-
ing his professorship at Evansville he was one of the editors of a medical journal of acknowledged
merit, and, until its publication was discontinued, contributed valuable articles to its columns.

In May, 1857, he was elected vice-president of the American Medical Asssociation, then assem-
bled at Nashville, Tennessee, and in the following autumn was called to the chair of Obstetrics
and Diseases of Worrien and Children, in the Rush Medical College at Chicago, vacated by Doc-
tor John Evans, the talented physician, who has since been United States senator from Colorado.
This position he occupied for two years, when, in conjunction with several medical associates, he
assisted in establishing and organizing the Chicago Medical College, in which he occupied the



850 UNITED STATES PIOGRAPIIICAL DICTIONARY.

same position which he had previously held in the Rush Medical College chair of Obstetrics
and Diseases of Women and Children. During a term of years he was associated with Professor
N. S. Davis in the editorial management of the "Chicago Medical Journal." In 1864 he published
the first medical work attributable to a Chicago author; its title is "Chronic Inflammation and
Displacements of the Unimpregnated Uterus." In 1866 appeared his " Practice of Medicine and
Surgery, Applied to the Diseases and Accidents Incident to Women," which is extensively used as
a text-book and frequently quoted as a valuable authority. In 1866 was published the second
edition of his " Practice," and in 1871 the second edition, also, of his work on the "Unimpregnated
Uterus." In 1872 his "Obstetrics" was issued, and in the following year a second edition of the
same volume appeared. He has twice performed the "Csesarean section," and as a lecturer on
medical and scientific subjects, and a writer on kindred topics, has secured a widely extended and
honorable reputation throughout the Northwest and elsewhere.



HON. HUGH PARISH BEACH.

PIPER CITY.

JUDGE BEACH traces his paternal ancestry back to Hon. Daniel D. Thompkins, one of
the early governors of New York state, and subsequently vice president of the United States
for two terms consecutively, under James Monroe as president, and on his mother's side to high
official position, in Connecticut.

The eyes of our subject first opened to the light of this world about forty years ago, in a
humble log cabin in the then pioneer wilderness of Northern Ohio, near what is now the beautiful
city of Cleveland. He received such education as the scant facilities of that early day offered to
farmer boys, until about the age of fourteen, when, upon the death of his mother, he started out
to breast the fortunes of life and carve out a career for himself, unaided and alone. His first
venture was in a printing office, and his first promotion to that position which bears the euphoni-
ous title of "printer's devil," and in that capacity, and from that position, through all the inter-
mediate grades up to the writer of locals for a country journal, he served for several succeeding
years, during which period he received his first substantial scholarship in the history of the
political affairs of his country and the world. Time and an increase of knowledge awakened
.within him a desire to enter the legal profession, and a favorable opportunity presenting itself, he
changed his occupation, and spent the next succeeding years in the offices of two prominent law-
yers, successively, during which time he laid the foundation of his legal education. Here he was
found at the breaking out of the late rebellion. At the firing on Fort Sumter he at once volun-
teered as a private for three years, or during the war. The first company he joined (such was the
patriotic rush to the defense of the country) failed to be accepted by the official authorities. He
did not have to wait long, however, for Father Abraham's call for three hundred thousand more
gave him opportunity for entering the service, which he did as a private, and remained for over
four years and a half, in constant service, and though but comparatively a boy, he served through
all the various grades up to the command of a company, and in both infantry and artillery, and
holding commissions about half the entire term of service. This took him through campaigns
and engagements from the Ohio River to the Gulf of Mexico, the Red River expedition, and the
movement against Mobile and the attendant conflicts which resulted in its capture; in which lat-
ter operations in the field he was in command of his own company. He also afterward rendered
service in the gulf coast defenses, at the mouth of the Mississippi. During his term of service
he was from time to time under the command of Generals Grant, Sherman, Sheridan, Banks,
Canby, Smith, and other distinguished commanders. Fortunately two slight wounds only attest
the many perils of this long and arduous service. After the assassination of President Lincoln
he raised a contribution in his company of over $700 for the national Lincoln monument at
Springfield, and received an autograph letter of thanks from Governor Oglesby, president of the
monument association.



UNITED STATES BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 85!

Near the close of his term of service he married the daughter of the late Captain Henry Lyon
Smith, of the engineer corps of the old regular arm}', who was a graduate of West Point, and
subsequently a professor at that post. Captain Smith was of New England birth, and after he
graduated at West Point he was sent by the United States government to Louisiana, where he
married the sister of a classmate, and thus became connected with one of the first families of
Louisiana, among whom were a governor of the state and several generals, and distinguished
political leaders. One member (aunt to the wife of our subject) has, since the close of the war,
filled the position of librarian, first at the patent-office, and next at the agricultural department at
Washington.

On returning from the army Judge Beach brought his young wife with him, and moved
directly to Ford county, Illinois, where he has since resided. Here he at once resumed the study
of law, in connection with other branches of professional business, and was admitted to the bar
about 1870, and during the three succeeding years he was engaged in private practice.

In the spring of 1873 his fellow townsmen elected him to the county board of supervisors,
where, by his vigilance and advocacy of economy, retrenchment, and reform in the management
of the affairs of the county, he immediately attracted general attention, and very unexpectedly
to himself was taken up by the people and overwhelmingly elected the same fall to the office of
county judge of Ford county, to which position he has been reflected for three successive terms,
and which he now fills. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, and of Saint Paul's Com-
mandery No. 34, of Knights Templar, Fairbury, Illinois. He is also a member of the Odd-Fel-
lows, both subordinate and encampment, and has been representative to the grand lodge of the
state. He has also been president of the board of trustees in the village where he resides, and
has held numerous other subordinate offices.

In politics he is a republican, but is not hide-bound. In religion, he believes God reigns
supreme.

Judge Beach is counted one of the best orators of eastern Illinois, and is pronounced by those
who know him most intimately, to be a faithful, upright and just judge.



HON. ISAAC G. WILSON.

CHICAGO.

THE subject of this sketch, the present presiding justice of the appellate court, was born in
the town of Middlebury, New York, April 26, 1817. At the age of twelve he was sent to
the Academy at Wyoming, and remained in school and as a clerk in a store until 1834, when he
entered Brown University, at Providence, Rhode Island. Upon graduating, in 1838, Mr. Wilson
came to Illinois, where his father's family had preceded him, three years before, and became a stu-
dent in the office of Butterfield and Collins, then the leading law firm of Chicago. In the spring
of 1840 he again went east, and entered the Cambridge Law School, and graduated the follow-
ing year with the degree of bachelor of laws. He was admitted to the Massachusetts bar at Con-
cord, July, 1841.

On returning the following month to Chicago, where he had intended to locate, he found that