Dundee Pioneer Family
Franklin Smith Bosworth (1832-1919)
Franklin Smith Bosworth (1832-1919)
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 [sic] 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 42
Republican Liberal, Mayor of Elgin, Illinois. He was elected a member of the city council in 1879, and in 1880 was elected mayor of Elgin, filling that office for two consecutive terms. Progressive administration.
The good, the bad and the ugly truth…
Relationship between Franklin Smith BOSWORTH & Me
Franklin Smith BOSWORTH (1832 – 1919)
2nd great-grandfather
Frank Hunt BOSWORTH (1870 – 1919)
son of Franklin Smith BOSWORTH
Dr. Wilder Morris BOSWORTH Sr., D.D.S. (1905 – 1990)
son of Frank Hunt BOSWORTH
son of Dr. Wilder Morris BOSWORTH Sr., D.D.S.
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.
Samuel Campbell Hoagland 1855–1940, Early Elgin, Illinois, Livery and Transportation
“Sam was a prudent businessman who maintained a card index of every animal and piece of equipment. He retired in 1913. He owned 26 horses, 11 full-sized closed carriages, 3 hearses, 3 fancy conveyances, opera hacks, pallbearer wagons, two seat carriages and one-seat light driving rig.”
Wagons to taxicabs: 4 generations of Hoaglands haul Elginites by E. C. Mike Alft
Samuel Campbell Hoagland was my great great grandfather.
son of Samuel Campbell HOAGLAND
daughter of Frederick Judson “Fred” HOAGLAND
son of Helen Marie HOAGLAND
the daughter of Capt. Frank Hunt BOSWORTH II
Samuel Campbell Hoagland was born on December 22, 1855, in Elgin, Illinois. His parents were Zephaniah and Celia (Sears) Hoagland.
Sam married Maria Elizabeth Blow on June 25, 1879 in his hometown. According to family history notes by my grandmother, the couple was married at the residence of D.R. Jencks, Rev. D.B. Cheney officiating. However, Robert B. Mogler, another Sam Hoagland descendant, has stated their marriage certificate shows they were married a the First Baptist Church in Elgin. They had two children during their marriage, a son Frederick Judson “Fred,” was born on June 12, 1880, and a daughter, Jennie May “Jane,”born on November 14, 1881. Both children were born in Elgin.
Hoaglands
For more than a century, through four generations and changing modes 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.
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ElginHistory.com – Elgin: Days Gone By – E. C. Alft
At the age of 84 years old, Sam died and was buried, alongide his wife, Maria, in Elgin’s Bluffside Cemetery. The following was transcribed by my grandmother, Helen Marie Hoagland who was his granddaughter, from a newspaper article at the time of his death. She did not state the source of the death notice:
