Chicago Genealogy
Dundee Pioneer Charles Blow A Hero at 94 Years Old
The Rock Island Argus
July 18, 1913
Page 9
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HUSBAND, 94, SAVES WIFE FROM FLAMES
Stairway Crashes as Aged Man Bears Helpmate Away from Burning House.
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Muscatine, Iowa, July 18
Heroism which parallels that of genuine fiction was exhibited by Charles Blow, 94 years old, from possible death in a fire which totally destroyed the residence of Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Contriman at Fruitland yesterday.
The aged people were in the home alone at the time of the fire. They have been guests at the Contriman home for the past several weeks, coming here from their home at Elgin, Ill. Their daughter, Mrs. Contriman was out in the pasture while Mr. Contriman was in the field.
The fire was discovered by Mr. Blow just as he had descended to the kitchen preparatory toward securing his breakfast. Considerable headway has already been made by the fire, a gust of flame enveloping him as he opened the kitchen door. Staggering from the noxious fumes he pluckily made his way upstairs where his wife was dressing. The aged woman was almost prostrated by the smoke which filled the upstairs portion of the dwelling and her husband practically carried her down the flight of the stairs. The passageway was dense with smoke and the two old people were compelled to fight their way to safety blindly. Flames singed the hair of both although neither was otherwise injured.
Barely a minute after they reached fresh air, the stairway crashed in.
The home was burned to the ground in its entirety. Nothing was saved. The loss to the furniture is estimated at about $1,500, while to the dwelling about $1,2000. The house was owned by Theodore Drake, a well known Muscatine Island resident. But a small amount of insurance was carried. The dwelling had recently been remodeled but since the improvements the insurance had not been increased.
Mr. and Mrs. Contriman had made their home in Fruitland since last February coming here from Chicago.
daughter of Charles BLOW
son of Maria Elizabeth BLOW
daughter of Frederick Judson “Fred” HOAGLAND
son of Helen Marie HOAGLAND
Me, the daughter of Frank Hunt BOSWORTH
Mr. Charles Blow and his wife, Lucy Flude Knott, are my 3x great grandparents.
Submitted by Tenderly Rose-Robin Melissa Bosworth Reininger
A Letter from Alfred Bosworth (1773-1861) – to His Brother Hezekiah
Alfred Bosworth’s Letter to His Brother Hezekiah
Dundee Kane Co. Ill. Jan. 7 AD 1846
Dear Brother,
I must say I have for a long time neglected to wright to you. When I left you I was soon unwell and not willing for my son to leave me. After leaving Warren I was soon in Pittstown. I was in Pittstown 7 or 8 days. My hoarseness and cold wore off.
Brother Nathaniel took me to Adams and about to see his children.
I left Pittstown and went to Gorham, Ontario where Judge Child lives and his children. I was in Ontario County 6 days. They took me about the county to see some relatives and old acquaintances. I was on the Fourth of July in Canandaigue Village. The people was celebrating the Fourth of July.
I left Ontario ounty for Hanover in Chautauqua county where my daughter in law and three little children lives. I was with them 6 days. She has a good house and lot and some money at interest. I went from Chautauqua to Michigan State. There I stopt to see Mrs. Bosworth’s relatives.
From Michigan I went to Chicago and I arrived home in Dundee the 22 of July. In looking over my journey in 2 months and 2 days I traveled near four thousand miles in the time, visited a number of relatives and friends. It was a consolation to find my relatives enjoying good health. Mrs. Bosworth and my children enjoyed good health the past year. My health in September and October was poor but through Divine Goodness my health is now good. I see it stated in some of the western papers that the health of the people was for 2 or 3 months the last year poor in the great Valley of the Mississippi but now good.
The farmers in this country have been blest with good crops the past year and the short crops in Europe helped them to an advanced price for their produce. This country is increasing fast in population and wealth. The people are enterprising and of industrious habits and respect the Sabbath. There is in Dundee Baptists Methodists and Presbyterians preaching. There will soon be a railroad from Chiago through Dundee to Galena.
I have just received a newspaper from Leonard Waldron. I received it as a favor. I must come to a close I never was a ready wrighter. If I had a been I would have wrighten to you all, and much oftener than I have done. It is seldom that I take a pen in my hand. I will be 73 years of age….months and I do feel a degree of thankfulness for the health and blessings that I have enjoyed. I have had some unpleasant feeling about Sister Usher’s living alone in her advanced age.
I do wish that my near relatives might see this letter for I cannot wright to them all–and I do hope that some one of the number will soon let me hear from you all. I have just received a newspaper from Leonard Waldron. I received it as a favor and I have sent in this letter a five dollar bill No. 141 the Ontario bank, Canandaigue. Brother I wish you would take this money and pay the Bristol printer for a newspaper one year directed to A. Bosworth, Dundee, Kane co., Ill. Give the balance of it to our Sister Waldron. In so doing you will oblige a brother.
I must close and leave room for Mrs. Bosworth to wright a few lines. Now we want four or five or six of you to come out and see us and see where we live. Such a visit would be gratifying to all.
4th great-grandfather
son of Alfred BOSWORTH
son of Benjamin Franklin BOSWORTH M.D.
son of Franklin Smith BOSWORTH
son of Frank Hunt BOSWORTH
son of Dr. Wilder Morris BOSWORTH Sr., D.D.S.
Frederick Judson “Fred” Hoagland 1880–1961 — Founder of the Yellow Cab Company in Elgin, Illinois
Frederick Judson “Fred” HOAGLAND
1880–1961
daughter of Frederick Judson “Fred” HOAGLAND
son of Helen Marie HOAGLAND
The daughter of Capt. Frank Hunt BOSWORTH II
Fred Judson Hoagland written by Grandson Frank H. Bosworth – 1985:
I became first truly aware of my grandfather as a real person, when he was able to spend time with me after our 1947 Kankakee, Illinois auto accident. I’ll always remember his looking to be about 7 feet tall at my hospital bedside, standing net to my Uncle Bob Mogler. He lit a cigar and offered one to me before he thought of my age (14), looked piercingly at me, and asked if I smoked. I stated that I did not and his penetrating eyes that were kindly but seemed to see through me, he chuckled and smiled and said, “You’d better not!” He really loved my mom, my brother, and me. He later came to the Gulf Coast, Biloxi, to see us with his dogs “Taxi” and “Chevy”-a matching pair of beautiful boxers.
When Frederick Judson “Fred” HOAGLAND was born on June 12, 1880, in Elgin, Kane County, Illinois, his father, Samuel, was 24 and his mother, Maria, was 25.
Fred was a resident of Elgin, Illinois, all his life.
Fred attended George P. Lord Grade School & went to high school.
He married Mabel Gladys Hawley on June 9, 1906, at the First Methodist Church in Elgin, Illinois and they had six children together:
Helen Marie Hoagland 1907-1965
Richard Samuel Hoagland 1909-1952
Charles Frederick Hoagland 1913-2009
Edyth Louise Hoagland 1915-1998
Robert Judson Hoagland 1917-1975
Ruth Lucille Hoagland 1920-2012
Fred and Mabel were divorced on April 6, 1938, in Elgin, Illinois, when he was 57 years old. He then married Mary Wells.
Fred founded the Elgin Yellow Cab Company in Elgin and introduced the first cab meters in that part of the country. In 1946, he added the Terminal Cab Company to his business.
According to my family history notes, Fred was a “great dog lover all his life.”
Fred attended the Baptist church.
Fred was a member of the Masons through the Elgin Lodge 117 AF & AM Masonic Lodge for 56 years. As a Master Mason, he was part of the Freemasonry appendant bodies called the Scottish Rite. He was honored by the Shrine Temple of Chicago with a life membership.
He died on February 2, 1961, in Elgin, Illinois, at the age of 80, and was buried there in the Bluff City Cemetery.
Excerpt from “ElginHistory.com – Elgin: Days Gone By”
Hoaglands
For more than a century, through four generations and changingmodes of transportation, the Hoaglands hauled freight and people around Elgin.
Zephania Hoagland’s aunt and uncle pioneered east of town in Hanover Township in 1837. Born in Steuben County, New York, Zeph also was an early arrival here, but didn’t settle down in Elgin until he had tried his luck as a’49er seeking gold in California. Zepbania became a teamster whose horse-drawn wagon carried goods around the little mill town that grew into an industrial city during his lifetime.
Zeph’s son, Sam C. Hoagland, was born in Elgin in 1855. He worked for his father and then purchased his own one-horse express wagon in 1876. The livery (a stable keeping horses and vehicles for hire) he bought four years later became one of Elgin=s largest. He also ran buses to and from the factories and supplied a big Tally-Ho wagon for picnics.
Sam Hoagland was a prudent businessman who maintained a card index on the cost of every animal and piece of equipment in his stable. His records indicated what each horse had eaten and earned. He also knew each one’s habits. When a drummer had rented a rig to go to Dundee, be complained on returning that the horse had balked. Sam charged him more than originally agreed because the rig had gone all the way to Algonquin. How did Sam know? Old Betsy never stalled except on the Algonquin bill.
Some customers desired well-dressed drivers as well as a carnage. In the Hoagland wardrooms were 15 outfits of fur coats, gloves, and caps. There were enough neatly brushed silk hats to costume a half-dozen minstrel shows.
By the time be retired in 1913, Sam Hoagland owned 26 horses, 11 full-sized closed carriages, three hearses, three fancy conveyances, opera hacks, pallbearer wagons, two-seat carriages, picnic wagons, and one-seat light driving rigs of all descriptions.
Sam’s son, Fred J. Hoagland, was born in Elgin in 1880 and joined the business after leaving high school. When the livery closed, he adapted to the motor age and started the Hoagland Taxicab Company with three Model-T Fords and two Reos, all black. Meters were introduced in 1919, and the original fare they tallied was 25 cents for the first mile and 10 cents for each succeeding two-fifths mile. After World War I, Fred began buying Yellow cabs manufactured in Chicago by John Hertz, and the firm’s name was changed to the Elgin Yellow Cab Company.
The early Yellows had tonneaus in which only the passenger compartment was enclosed. The driver was in the open air, exposed to rain and snow. After Hertz sold out to General Motors, Hoagland switched to Chevrolets.
Two-way radios, which reduced cost and response time, were introduced in 1946. At its operating peak in the 1950s, Elgin Yellow had about 60 full and part-time employees, including three full time dispatchers, two telephone operators, maintenance shop repairmen, and drivers. The firm had 18 cars on the streets in the summer and 25 in the winter. The cars averaged about 7,000 mile per month. Eight new cars were purchased each year. By the end of the decade, Elgin Yellow had switched from Chevrolets to Checkers made in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
Fred’s son, Charles Hoagland, was born in Elgin in 1913. While still a boy, he learned the ropes by guiding new drivers around the city. He eventually became a partner in the business, withdrawing in 1964, but was driving his private livery until he reached the age of 70.
http://www.elginhistory.com/dgb/ch06.htm ElginHistory.com – Elgin: Days Gone By – E. C. Alft
World War I Draft Registration Cards 1917-1918
I was one of the grandchildren listed in Fred’s obit:
Susan (Gilbert) Sears Lester 1800–1873
Susan GILBERT
Susan Gilbert
1800–1873
My fourth great grandmother
daughter of Susan GILBERT
son of Celia Mary SEARS
son of Samuel Campbell HOAGLAND
daughter of Frederick Judson “Fred” HOAGLAND
son of Helen Marie HOAGLAND
the daughter of Capt. Frank Hunt BOSWORTH II
Susan was buried in Elgin first in Channing Cemetery, then her remains were transferred after the historical closing of that cemetery, to Bluff City Cemetery, where her daughter, Celia Mary (Sears) Hoagland is buried. She is buried in one mass grave with other family members as noted on the interment document from Bluff City Cemetery. I was able to obtain the interment list from a genealogy angel in Elgin, Illinois. She was my fourth great grandmother.
Susan’s second husband, Edward Lester, is buried with his first wife in DuPage, Illinois. Both Susan and Edward were residents of Elgin, Illinois at the times of their deaths. It is noted in his will that five dollars be left for Susan and the remainder of his estate involving property in DuPage and finances was to be left to his children from the first marriage. His son was executor of the will.
Susan (Gilbert) Sears Lester is the grandmother of Richard Warren Sears, the founder of Sears Roebuck and Company.
- Susan (Gilbert) Sears with picture of her husband, Richard Sears Jr.
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Almira (Smith) Bosworth 1811-1834
Almira SMITH Bosworth
1811–1834
Birth 6 Jan 1811 • Saratoga, Saratoga, New York, USA
Death 09 Dec 1834 • Saratoga, New York, USA
my 3rd great grandmother
son of Almira SMITH
son of Franklin Smith BOSWORTH
son of Frank Hunt BOSWORTH
son of Dr. Wilder Morris BOSWORTH Sr., D.D.S.
the daughter of Capt. Frank Hunt BOSWORTH II
Almira is one of my mystery ancestors. I want to know who her parents are. It is possible her first name was Amelia. She died of consumption so young, and with a child, it just tugs on my heartstrings.
Dr. Benjamin Franklin Bosworth was Almira’s husband.
I believe she was of the Methodist Episcopal faith. I would very much like to learn who Amelia’s parents were.
Franklin S. BOSWORTH – a native of Boston, Erie Co., New York, and son of Benjamin F. and Almira SMITH BOSWORTH. The father was born in Greenfield, New York, and was the son of Alfred BOSWORTH, born in Bristol, Rhode Island, of English parentage. Alfred came west in the fall of 1839, to Dundee, Ill. where he died in June 1861. He followed the hatter’s trade, and later farming. He married Olive CHILD of New York, and they had 6 children: Benjamin F., Oliver C., Increase C., Lucinda C., Mary C. wife of Harry WEED, Lucinda wife of Alfred EDWARDS and Abbie M, wife of Benj. SIMONDS; all are now deceased.
Dr. Benjamine F. BOSWORTH the father practiced medicine til his removal to Illinois; locating in Chicago in 1856, he engaged in merchandising in that place until his removal to McHenry, Ill where he conducted a mercatile establishment until his death in Sept. 1843. (transcribers note: these dates are as given. Perhaps reversed?)
His wife was the daughter of Amos SMITH, of NY.
Franklin S. BOSWORTH, their only child, was born Dec. 17, 1832. He began merchandising in 1852, in connection with I.C. BOSWORTH, at Dundee, Ill. until June 1871, when he removed to Elgin. There he pruchased interest in an east side hardware store, until Sept. 1883 when he sold to Metcalf and Reed. 1888 he purchased part of a coal and lumber yard – 1896 he became partners with his son Frank H. BOSWORTH.
Jan 1859 he married Miss Sarah E. HUNT of Dundee, daughter of Ward E. and Mary HUNT, her father a native of Vermont. 4 BOSWORTH children: Reuben H., Edward, married to Bertha McCLURE of Elgin; Mary, wife of Walter SKEELE; and Frank H.
Mr. BOSWORTH was elected mayor of Elgin in 1880, for 2 terms.
Biographical Record of Kane Co., Ill.
S.J. Clarke Publishing Co.
Chicago, Ill 1898
page 4
Bosworth Entries in the Biographical Record of Kane Co., Ill.
1898
Elgin, Kane, Illinois, USA
Biographical Sketch of Franklin Smith Bosworth, Alfred Bosworth, Dr. Benjamin F. Bosworth and families.
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My paternal grandmother, Helen Marie Hoagland (1907 – 1965)
When Helen Marie HOAGLAND was born on June 22, 1907, in Elgin, Illinois, her father, Frederick Judson “Fred” HOAGLAND, was 27 and her mother, Mabel Gladys HAWLEY, was 26.
She was married three times and had four sons.
Helen Marie HOAGLAND married William Benjamin Shales, Jr. on March 22, 1924, in Elgin, Illinois, when she was 16 years old. They had one son, William David “Bill” Shales on March 17, 1925, in Elgin, Illinois. Helen and William Benjamin Shales, Jr., were divorced on June 27, 1927, in Elgin, Illinois, after 3 years of marriage. She was 20 years old.
Helen Marie HOAGLAND married Dr. Wilder Morris BOSWORTH on February 7, 1931, in Elgin, Illinois, when she was 23 years old. They had a son born September 21, 1931, in Chicago, Illinois. That son was placed for adoption, later to be adopted by the Mosiman family. His first name was John. Helen and Wilder had a son, Frank Hunt Bosworth was born on June 19, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois. Another son was born to the couple, Wilder Morris Bosworth II, on September 7, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois. His nickname was “Tuffy”.
Helen Marie HOAGLAND married Millard Ayres “Boots” Mason on May 5, 1945, in Biloxi, Mississippi, when she was 37 years old.
She died on September 13, 1965, in her hometown, Elgin, Illinois, at the age of 58 of Leukemia at St. Joseph’s Hospital.
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paternal grandmother
son of Helen Marie HOAGLAND
the daughter of Capt. Frank Hunt BOSWORTH II
Helen Marie Hoagland’s family history was a lively part of the pioneer days of Elgin, Illinois.
Occupation: Interior Decorator, Proprietor of Mason Interiors in Biloxi, Mississippi with her husband, Millard Ayes “Boots” Mason. As my grandmother, I called her “Macy” from her last married name.
My Grandmother Helen was a gifted pianist and songstress. She especially loved to spend time with me. I recall her playing her piano and singing to entertain me. I remember her laughter and her smiles. I know she loved me with all her heart. She bought me beautiful dresses, hats and purses. Our relationship was very close after I was born and until she left for Elgin when I was still a little girl. After “Macy” left, my mother took me to visit her husband’s grave at Southern Memorial Cemetery in Biloxi several times- we called him “Boots”. I visited Grandmother Helen when she was in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Elgin when she suffered with leukemia and it was determined she would not live much longer. She died when I was nine years old.
My Grandmother Helen held an immense amount of family history notes, photos and newspaper collections for the Hoagland/Bosworths. When she died, my father, Frank Bosworth came into possession of these articles and charts and wrote his own family history with the information from this collection. According to my father’s family history account, my grandmother Helen worked with his grandmother Bertha Swan Bosworth (paternal) to compile a family history. They were the two true genealogists on that side of the tree. When my father passed that family history to me, I transcribed his handwritten family history into text form. I took the family history he’d given to me and have grown the collection on my paternal side of my family to what it is today. It was the basis for the “Wings of Angels” family tree on Ancestry.com today. I later added my mother’s family tree to the “Wings of Angels” family tree. I had little to work with on her side of the family, so I started from scratch about 30 years ago trying to piece that together. These days, as an adult, I call “Macy” by the name of Grandmother Helen when referring to her. She is my inspiration for all the Hoagland/Bosworth genealogy research I do today. I am proud to follow in my grandmother’s footsteps as I continue to follow my genealogy passion. I consider my Grandmother Helen and my Great Grandmother Bertha Swan Bosworth the “Wings of Angels” that started my family tree. — note by Helen Marie’s grandaughter Tenderly
My Grandmother Helen was a lifelong Methodist.
Helen Marie Hoagland married William Benjamin Shales, Jr. on March 22, 1924, in Elgin, Illinois, when she was 16 years old. Their son, William David “Bill” Shales was born on March 27, 1925. Helen and Bill were divorced on June 27, 1927, in Elgin, Illinois, after three years of marriage. She was 20 years old.
Helen Marie Hoagland married Wilder Morris Bosworth I on February 7, 1931, in Elgin, Illinois, when she was 23 years old. Wilder was attending dental school around the year of 1931 in Chicago when their first son was born and my mother told me the child was put up for adaption. The child’s adoptive name was John Mosiman. My father Frank Hunt Bosworth was born in 1933 and my uncle Wilder Morris “Tuffy” Bosworth II was born in 1935, in Chicago, Illinois. Wilder was still in dental school.
Helen and Wilder, along with sons Frank and “Tuffy” lived in Safety Harbor, Florida, where my grandfather established his first dental practice in 1935.
In 1936, Wilder established a dental practice in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Helen and Wilder Morris Bosworth were divorced on September 13, 1941, in Biloxi, Mississippi, after 10 years of marriage. She was 34 years old.
Helen married Millard Ayres “Boots” Mason on May 5, 1945, in Biloxi, Mississippi, when she was 37 years old.
Helen’s husband Millard Ayres “Boots” Mason passed away on October 24, 1960, in Biloxi, Mississippi, at the age of 59. They had been married 15 years.
Helen Marie Hoagland died on September 13, 1965, in Elgin, Illinois, when she was 58 years old. Helen’s remains were donated for research at Northwestern University where it was cremated. She has no known burial site or memorial that I could find.
The Tenderly Rose Collection 