Helen Hoagland Bosworth
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:
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 