936
HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
married in 1892 to Miss May Cannon, daughter of Daniel Cannon, of Geneva.
EDWARD C. WHILDIN, retired farmer, Big Rock, Ill., born in Sugar Grove, Kane County, Ill., Dec. 26, 1844; was educated in the public schools, and began farming in Sugar Grove Township, Kane County. In 1879 he purchased a farm two miles north of the village of Big Rock, which he cultivated until 1893, when he retired from active labor. Mr. Whildin has occupied various important official positions during his active years. He was Assessor for four years, and was elected Supervisor in 1887, a position which he has filled continuously to the present time. For the last six years he has been Justice of the Peace. Mr. Whildin was married May 28, 1873, to Mary G, Taylor.
JOHN C. WHILDIN, farmer, Big Rock, was born July 12, 1843, in Cambria County, Penn., and came with his parents to Kane County in his early boyhood. Here he was educated In the public schools, and then began farming. He bought out the heirs to the old homestead in 1881, where he is now living. For over thirty years he has been a member of the School Board, and in 1903 was elected Highway Commissioner for the third term. In politics he is a Republican, and takes an active interest in local affairs. In 1864 he married Harriet S. Potter, and of this union have been born three boys and two girls.
JOHN R. WHILDIN (deceased), farmer, born in Big Rock Township, Jan. 28, 1850; educated in what was known as the "Old Center School," then located on his father's farm; followed farming all his life, and was well known as a successful manager and a high-minded gentleman; married in 1877 Miss Mary E. Davis.
JOSEPH H. WHIPPLE, pioneer settler, Batavia, Ill., born in Springfield, Otsego County, N. Y., Dec. 12, 1816; came to Illinois in 1846, locating in Batavia, where, during his business career, he was interested in the stone quarries of that place, in milling and other pursuits; served in numerous county and municipal offices.
AMASA L. WHITE (deceased), Geneva, Ill., born in Windham County, Vt, Sept. 10, 1825; camewith his parents to Illinois in 1839, and grew to manhood in Geneva Township, Kane County; trained to farming and followed that occupation until 1860; engaged in the coal, grain and agricultural implement trade in the latter year in Geneva, and later was engaged in the United States Railway Mail service for five years. He was married in 1863 to Catherine E. Curtis, who still survives her husband, and resides on a part of the old Curtis homestead on Batavia Avenue. Of the five children born to Mr. and Mrs. White, Frank C., Mrs. Ellen King, and Mary E. Grenier, are living in 1903- Kate E. (White) Curtis died in 1895, and Frederick S. White died in 1900.
FRED O. WHITE (deceased), was born in Wrentham, Mass., Sept. 30, 1839, son of Frederick W. and Catherine (Ford) White, whose remote ancestors came from England and were among the first settlers of New England. The parents removed to Illinois in 1856, and settled in Sugar Grove Township, Kane County. Fred 0. completed his schooling in the public schools and in Jennings Seminary, a well known Aurora institution. On the outbreak of the Civil War he enlisted in Company A, Thirty-sixth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, serving until November, 1863. In 1866 he became junior member of the lumber firm of Loomis & White, of Aurora. Mr. White continued in this business until 1870, when he became the head of the lumber firm of White & Todd. In 1881 he was one of the organizers of the Aurora Creamery Company, and was also one of the original stockholders and a director of the Aurora National Bank. The lumber firm of White & Todd is still in existence, though Mr. White and Mr. Todd are both deceased. Mr. White was a member of the building committee that erected the Aurora Cotton Mills, a charter member of the Home Building & Loan Association, and was for a time Director and Secretary of the Aurora Slate Mantel Company. He was Chairman of the Republican County Central Committee for four years, City Treasurer in 1869-70, and Mayor in 1885. The same year in which he was Mayor he was appointed a member of the State Commission to locate a Soldiers' and Sailors' Home, and did much to secure the erection of the Soldiers' Memorial and Library Building in Aurora. For twenty years he was on the West Side Board of Education. A marked and ready writer, he was a frequent contributor to the "Chicago Inter-Ocean." He
Dundee Area History
