Illinois History
James Knott 1804–1874, Elgin’s Grocer
When James Knott was born about 1804, in Leicester, Leicestershire, England, his father, Thomas, was 13 and his mother, Anna, was 17. He was married three times and had three sons and two daughters. He died on March 5, 1874, in Elgin, Illinois, at the age of 70, and was buried there.
James KNOTT (1804 – 1874)
My 4th great-grandfather
daughter of James KNOTT & Deborah FLUDE
daughter of Lucy Flude KNOTT
son of Maria Elizabeth BLOW
daughter of Frederick Judson “Fred” HOAGLAND
son of Helen Marie HOAGLAND
The daughter of Capt. Frank Hunt BOSWORTH II
James Knott married Deborah Flude in 1822 in Leicester, Leicestershire, when he was 18 years old.
St. Nicholas Church – “England Marriages, 1538–1973 ,” database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NJ8W-TQK : accessed 24 February 2016), James Knott and Debora Flude, 25 Aug 1822; citing St. Nicholas, Leicester, Leicester, England, ref
Read about Deborah Flude by clicking on this link:
https://thetenderlyrosecollection.wordpress.com/2016/08/30/deborah-flude-1800-1847/
Excerpt from British History Online:
“Of the other early shoemakers, James Knott advertised himself in 1842 as a ‘Fashionable Boot and Shoe Manufacturer’, who supplied the trade as well as private customers and executed shipping orders. He continued to appear with his son, Thomas, in the lists of boot and shoe manufacturers until 1850.”
‘The City of Leicester: Footwear manufacture’, A History of the County of Leicester: volume 4: The City of Leicester (1958), pp. 314-326. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.
My note: Is it possible that the author of this history may have listed James as the father of Thomas in error. In my research, Thomas Knott was the father of James Knott. But, I am just beginning to gather information on this family, so I may be incorrect in my information. Would love to hear from anyone familiar with this family.
After Deborah’s death in 1847, James Knott arrived in America on June 28, 1849 in New York, New York after a 38 day voyage on the ship named Guy Mannering. The ship’s manifest lists James Knott 45, William Knott 18, Anne Knott 20, Eliz. Knott 16 and Fred Knott 12. His oldest child, Lucy, my GGG Grandmother, was not listed on the manifest with her family. I found she had traveled ahead of the family to America and was living with her Uncle John Knott in Chicago at the time of her family’s arrival.
Around 1849-1851, James Knott married Elizabeth Anne Hawly (1800-1852) in Illinois.
On the 1850 U.S. Federal Census the family is living in the Town of Elgin, Kane County, Illinois. The census lists James Knott 46, Elisabeth Knott 26, Elisabeth Knott 18, Frederick J. Knott 13. Only James is listed as having been born in Illinois. On the ship’s manifest for James Knott upon arrival to the U.S., an Elizabeth is listed, so at least that would indicated she was born in England, not Illinois. The same page of the census also shows his father, Thomas Knott 61 with Ann Knott 63-both born in England-his occupation is “Tanner or Tuner”.
After the death of James’ second wife, Elizabeth Hawly, he then married Charlotte Bunce on November 18, 1852.
James Knott is listed on the Illinois State Census for 1855 as residing in Elgin, Kane, Illinois.
A U.S. IRS Tax Assessment List for Illinois, District 2, for 1862-1864 lists James Knott as “Retail Dealer”, but then that was crossed out and it looks like “Butcher” was written beside it. Another U.S. IRS Tax Assessment List for the same district lists James Knott as “Retail Dealer”.
On the 1870 U.S. Census for Elgin, Kane, Illinois, James Knott is listed as “Retired Merchant” with possible wife (3 years younger), Charlotte Knott & Margaret Bunce (whom I found on a census in PA with George F. Knott on same page – Marg. was listed as domestic) at same address.
James Knott is listed as buried in the Channing Street Cemetery (Channing Street Cemetary Sexton’s Certificates) on March 5, 1874, however, the Channing Street Cemetery was “repurposed” for the building of a school. The story is here:
http://www.elginroots.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=18&Itemid=146
Deborah FLUDE (1800 – 1847)
Deborah FLUDE Knott (1800 – 1847)
My 4th great-grandmother
daughter of Deborah FLUDE
daughter of Lucy Flude KNOTT
son of Maria Elizabeth BLOW
daughter of Frederick Judson “Fred” HOAGLAND
son of Helen Marie HOAGLAND
The daughter of Capt. Frank Hunt BOSWORTH II
Forget Me Knott
BBC Leicester’s Tony Wadsworth goes in search of a Leicester woman who was born, married and buried in the same street.
How often do you pass familiar buildings, statues and objects in the street without giving them a second thought?
One sunny day BBC Leicester’s Tony Wadsworth stopped to take a look round the churchyard he walks past everyday, and found one woman’s remarkable story amongst the gravestones.
It got him thinking about the area around St. Nicholas Church and how it had changed since her days in the 1800s, and even in the last 50 years.
Deborah’s Death
Deborah’s death certificate states that she died of “enlargement of the liver” and “heart disease”.
BBC Leicester’s Julie Mayer spoke to Dr Clive Harrison to find out what could have caused Deborah’s poor health…
Leicester in the mid 1800s was a very different place from the city we know today and the environment would have affected everyone’s health.
In 1813 the Inspector of Nuisances, George Brown painted the city conditions as a radical risk to the health of its residents.
He said the River Soar was “torpid and turbid”, describing parts of it as an “open cesspool” emitting “pestiferous gasses which cause disease of the most malignant and mortal character”.
Doctors of the time often didn’t understand much more about disease than their patients; miasma, the belief that illness came from bad smells, was a popular concept.
Infant mortality was particularly high with a fifth of children dying before they reached the age of one.
In the 19th Century diarrhoea, consumption, scarlet fever and lung infections were all common causes of deaths.
With people living in cramped conditions, next to cesspits, abattoirs and stables, Clive believes it’s no wonder disease was rife.
Before the time of the NHS and antibiotics, city residents would normally be treated by local doctors who used reference books to give prescriptions from their own pharmacies.
There was just one hospital in the area during the 1800’s. Leicester Infirmary was founded in 1771 but was only open to a small section of society.
Overall Dr Clive said it was unsurprisingly Deborah had died of disease and all things considered she didn’t do too badly to last until 47 years-old: “I’d have said she was almost elderly.”
Life after Deborah
Although Deborah’s grave clearly marks her marriage to James Knott, her husband and children do not rest in the same churchyard.
Peter Cousins searched the 1851 census but was unable to find their names, “Husband, children – just disappeared off the face of Leicester.”
After quite a bit of thinking and investigating Peter traced down the family’s movements after the death of Deborah.
An 1849 shipping list reveals that James Knott, his sons William and Fredrick, and daughter Elizabeth, emigrated to America.
The travelled on the Guy Mannering ship on her first East-West voyage from Liverpool to New York on 22 May 1849.
The journey to the new world and their new home took 38 days.
After digging a bit deeper Peter found the Knott’s settled in Illinois the next year, with what appears to be a young wife for James:
“So he’s not only gone to start a new life, it looks like he’s started a new family.”
St. Nicholas Church, Leicester
In Search of Deborah
BBC Leicester’s Tony Wadsworth and Julie Mayer went in search of the woman who was born and buried on the same street in Leicester…
Deborah was born in 1800 on St. Nicholas Street, which is now a continuation of the High Street – just round the corner from the BBC Leicester studios.
At that time Leicester’s population would have rested at around 17,000 people. Her particular neighbourhood was small but densely inhabited.
Her unusually modern name, which first drew Tony to her story, was passed on from her older sister who died in infancy just a year before her arrival in the world.
She married James Knott in 1822 at St. Nicholas Church, at the age of 22. Find out more about marriage in the 1800s…
Weddings at this time would have been simple and quiet affairs, with just a few close family members witnessing their solemnisation of matrimony.
Local Historian Richard Gill commented, “this notion that we have to have 150 guests at your wedding and you have a huge slap up meal afterwards, that is actually middle to late 20th Century.
“It didn’t happen for my parents in the 1920s.”
A Different Life
Deborah continued to live with her husband on the same road she grew up on, raising six children in the process.
Local genealogist Peter Cousins discovered that at the time of the 1841 Census the children ranged from between three and 16 years-old:
“They were quite regular in their habits, you might say!”
James worked as a shoemaker, which was a common profession in an area home to many shoe factories, however Mrs Knott is likely to have been a housewife.
It is difficult to know how comfortably the Knotts lived as James’ specific position is unknown and could range from business owner to manual worker.
However Richard believes there may be some clues to the family’s wealth in Deborah’s gravestone – a smart but not overly elaborate piece made from local Swithland slate:
“This would rather suggest that there was at least sufficient money to memorialise her when she died.”
Deborah’s life in the 1800s would have been a very different experience to the Leicester women of today.
There were no aeroplanes, no electric light bulbs, no phones, no water pipes delivering fresh water, no flushing toilets, no NHS, and definitely no television or radio!
Leicester: 1800s
With the St. Nicholas area now home to several car parks and a developing park and ride scheme it is particularly interesting to consider that Deborah would have never seen a motor vehicle.
Very few areas of Leicester would still be recognisable to Deborah now, including the Guildhall, five medieval churches, a few chapels, the City Rooms, and a small network of streets south of St. Martins.
Richard said, “In the period in which she lived, that first half of the 19th Century, Leicester was very different and the sort of Leicester we think of as Victorian Leicester came more or less as was dying. So very little survives.”
Deborah died on 15 May 1847 at the age of 47 and was buried in the grounds of St. Nicholas Church in Leicester, where she remains to this day.
It may seem young to us now, but Richard believes it wouldn’t have been at all shocking in the 1840s:
“No drains, no deposal sewage, clean water uncertain – so one was pray to all kinds of things.
“And medicine was really just a case of nursing people, no antibiotics or anything like that, and often the flus in the winter and summer diarrhoea carried people off.
“So it may well be some people thought, ‘well she might have lived longer’, but 47 wasn’t bad.”
last updated: 04/09/2009 at 09:34
created: 07/07/2009
BBC
The story about Deborah as documented by Tony Wadsworth can be heard by clicking on this link and following the links within the story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2009/07/07/deborah_knott_feature.shtml
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.
—–
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:
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.
—
Celia Mary (Sears) Hoagland 1825–1889
Celia Mary (Sears) Hoagland 1825–1889
When Celia Mary Sears was born on March 31, 1825, in Dryden, New York, her father, William, was 28 and her mother, Susan, was 25. She married Zephaniah Campbell Hoagland on January 18, 1844, in Steuben County, New York. They had nine children in 20 years. She died on November 4, 1889, in Elgin, Illinois, at the age of 64, and was buried there.
She was my great great grandmother.
Celia M. Sears-Daughter of William Richard Sears and Susan Gilbert: Celia M. Sears was the daughter of William Richard Sears and Susan Gilbert born 31 Mar 1825 in Howard, Steuben, New York, USA and died 4 Nov 1889 in Elgin, Kane, Illinois. She married Zephaniah C. Hoagland. Susan Gilbert was buried in Elgin in the Hoagland family plot. I have been working with other researchers of the Sears family and feel Celia is a sister to James, Charity, Bradford, Serena and John. She was somehow inadvertently missed in some genealogical information that is available on the internet.
Celia is the aunt of Richard Warren Sears 1863–1914, my 1st cousin 4x removed. He was a founder of Sears Roebuck and Company.
3rd great-grandmother
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
Note: On Ancestry.com – Someone has added Zeph to their family tree for the husband of Clarinda Griffith. This is absolutely not accurate. He was married once, and it was not to Clarinda Griffith. All the documentation and sources I have found through extensive research evidences the fact that Zephaniah Hoagland was married only once in his life and that is to Celia, whom he is buried next to.
Remembrances of Samuel C. Hoagland by Granddaughter Helen Marie Hoagland
Remembrances of Samuel C. Hoagland
by Granddaughter Helen Marie Hoagland
“My grandfather told me many tales about his business and I remember the Livery Stable. When I was a child I disappointed my grandfather by not liking a beautiful Nanny Goat with yellow cart that he gave me to ride in. I thanked him but said she smelled too bad for me to go near her. This is just an example of his kindnesses to me, as I had asked for a goat and cart. I believe that if I’d asked for the moon he would have tried to get it for me. I was treated like a little queen, as he had my hats made by a milliner, had beautiful ermine fur coats tailored, and a beautiful ermine muff and neck piece. I remember beautiful boots and shoes that he had the cobbler make for me.
We had a daily ride in his beautiful buggy, which was yellow trimmed with red and harnessed to a beautiful horse. He had a special seat belt harness made to keep me safe, in case the horse balked or reared while we made Grandfather’s business calls. He was amused when I would fall asleep when riding but would awaken as we drove into the stable on the wooden floor and I would then demand that we return to town to buy a treat at the candy store. He would drive on through, the building and out, laughing as he took me to candy store. This went on most every day.
When my aunt moved to Colorado and after he retired in 1913, he took a trip each year to visit her. When he came home, he would take me on an imaginary train ride to the Wild West. This was in the days of the actual Buffalo Bill Cody. He told me of every point of interest, even the formations of the mountains – some looked like Indian heads, etc. His tales were so vivid that I was sure I had been there. In my second school year, I described the trip in such detail that my teacher asked my mother if I had been there. Truly he visited Colorado with me. While I live he lives.
During my grade school years, I visited in my grandparents’ home every Saturday it was possible. He came home at noon just to be with me. One of the games he always played with me was “I Spy”. He spent a few minutes hiding dimes all over the living room, then gave me for spending money all I could find. He would then show me where the rest of the dimes were hidden and would put those back in his pocket. We played many games together and my favorite, even after I was married, was dominoes. It used to amuse him if I could catch him cheating. It seems he was always teaching me lessons through the games.
When grandfather retired in 1913, he was using 50 horses to pull his many buses, hacks, and buggies. All was auctioned and I can remember that sale. It was also the end of the horse and buggy days.”
Samuel Campbell HOAGLAND
1855–1940
Birth 22 Dec 1855 • Elgin, Kane, Illinois, USA
Death 14 Dec 1940 • Elgin, Kane, Illinois, USA
Samuel Campbell Hoagland was my paternal great great grandfather.
Helen Marie Hoagland was my paternal grandmother.
Harriet Elizabeth “Hattie” (Alexander) Swan 1846–1933
Harriet Elizabeth “Hattie” Alexander
1846–1933
Birth 18 Jan 1846 • Concord, Merrimack, New Hampshire, USA
Death 19 Sep 1933 • Elgin, Kane, Illinois, USA
my great great grandmother
daughter of Harriet Elizabeth “Hattie” ALEXANDER
son of Bertha Amoret SWAN
son of Dr. Wilder Morris BOSWORTH Sr., D.D.S.
the daughter of Capt. Frank Hunt BOSWORTH II
When Harriet Elizabeth “Hattie” Alexander was born on January 18, 1846, in Concord, New Hampshire, her father, John, was 43 and her mother, Harriet, was 30. She married Eugene Morris “Gene” Swan on November 23, 1865, in Bloomfield, Wisconsin. She was 19 years old. She had three children by the time she was 28. She died on September 19, 1933, in Elgin, Illinois, at the age of 87, and was buried in Richmond, Illinois.
Harriet Elizabeth “Hattie” ALEXANDER married Eugene Morris “Gene” SWAN on November 23, 1865, in Bloomfield, Wisconsin, when she was 19 years old.
Hattie’s husband, Eugene Morris “Gene” Swan. He is listed in the “Descendants of Joseph MINER-Sixth Generation” http://tmsociety.org/thomas/joseph/aqwg55.htm
Hattie Alexanders’s Signature in School Book I have a school book that belonged to Hattie when she was a child. This must be her signature at that time.
The Diary of Miss Hattie Alexander
1862-1872
McHenry, Illinois, USA
Written by Harriet Elizabeth “Hattie” Alexander Swan of McHenry, Illinois – my great great grandmother. Locations mentioned include Illinois, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont and Wisconsin. Many, many surnames from this area are included. I transcribed this from a distant cousin’s copy of the original manuscript that my grandfather, Wilder Morris Bosworth, DDS, had transcribed from Hattie’s diary. I absolutely love reading this diary.
You can download a copy to read by clicking on the link below.