Whiteside County IL Archives Biographies.....Golder, Alonzo ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/il/ilfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 January 31, 2008, 3:15 am Author: Portrait/Bio Album, Whiteside County IL 1885 Alonzo Golder, section 10, Montmorency Township, has been a resident of Whiteside County since 1856, and he has reached prominence as an agriculturist and promoter of the general welfare of the locality where he has lived nearly 30 years. He was born April 24, 1807, in Dutchess Co., N. Y., and is the oldest son of William and Mary (Chase) Golder, who were born respectively in New York and Rhode Island. The native county of William Golder was the same in which his son was born, and there he settled with the bride of his early manhood, who died after giving birth to six children—Ellen, Alonzo, Elizabeth, Emmeline, Phebe and Joseph. The father was married a second time to Phebe Hewett, a native of New York. She died in Illnois. One child, Jane H., was born of the second marriage. The portion of New York where Mr. Golder was born and grew to maturity was in an undeveloped condition, and although he acquired such education as was afforded by the schools of that time he gathered a more useful and mental training by observation and from the force of circumstances. He attended school during the winter seasons until he was 14 years of age, after which he was a laborer on his father's farm until he was 23 years old, with the exception of a single year when he was engaged in boating on the Hudson River. He passed another year in the employ of an uncle, after which he established a country store at Pleasant Plains, Dutchess County, in partnership with John Bard, the son of a Hessian soldier. Their business connections were in existence one year, and, after their dissolution, Mr. Golder prospected for a time in search of a favorable location. He fixed upon Clinton Hollow, in his native county and again established his mercantile enterprise in connection with a flouring mill, associated with Charles Slate. At the end of the first year Mr. Golder became the sole proprietor by purchase, and shortly after formed a partnership with Spencer Bennett, under the firm style of Bennett, Golder & Co. After three years the business was closed. Mr. Golder bought a farm in Cayuga Co., N. Y., where he operated as farmer four years. He sold his property at the end of that time for the purpose of moving West, but he yielded to the solicitations of friends in Dutchess County, and returned there to engage in mercantile and lumber traffic, settling at Hyde Park. He did not meet the success he anticipated, and after a fair trial of four years' duration he sold out. In 1844 he came to Illinois and located at Hartland, McHenry County, where he engaged in farming, in which he was interested until 1855, when he sold his farm, and in the fall of the same year he came to Whiteside County. In the spring of 1856 he purchased 400 acres in Montmorency Township, in company with his son Joseph. Their joint ownership of real estate includes 680 acres, of which 500 acres are in tillage. They have an average herd of about 70 cattle, 10 horses, and fatten for market yearly about 60 hogs. They have erected suitable and substantial buildings, where father and son reside together. Mr. Golder was one of the most active and prominent promoters of the Grange movement and was made first Master of the State organization. He represented Illinois four successive terms in the National Grange. In his native State he was actively interested in the militia and belonged to the cavalry. He was made Brigade Inspector under General I. I. Platt, and was a compeer of the late General Van Rensselaer. He is a Democrat in his political affiliations, and cast his first Presidential vote for Andrew Jackson. While in McHenry County he served as Supervisor and has been Justice of the Peace in the township where he now lives about 16 years. The marriage of Mr. Golder to Caroline E. Lloyd occurred in Blanford, Hampden Co., Mass., June 3, 1833. Mrs. Golder was born in that county, and is the daughter of Isaac and Eunice (Gibbs) Lloyd, who were natives of Massachusetts, of English and Welsh descent. Her father died in his native State. The mother joined the daughter in McHenry Co., Ill., where she died. Joseph M. is the only son of Mr. and Mrs. Alonzo Golder, and both are represented by sketches on other pages. Ellen M. is their only daughter, and is the wife of Alvin Roper, of Washington Territory. The portrait of Mr. Golder, which appears in this work accompanying the above sketch, is engraved from a photograph taken in 1875, and presents the facial features of a worthy citizen of Whiteside County. Additional Comments: Portrait and Biographical Album of Whiteside County, Illinois, Containing Full- page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County. Chicago: Chapman Brothers, 1885. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/whiteside/bios/golder2364nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 5.4 Kb