Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Cagwin, Merritt O 
************************************************
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 ddhaines@gmail.com September 3, 2007, 4:19 pm

Author: Genealogical/Biographical Publishing Co

MERRITT O. CAGWIN. During the colonial period of American history the Cagwin 
family came from Scotland to this country. Thomas Cagwin was the son of a 
Revolutionary soldier, served as an officer in the war of 1812, and married 
Eunice Joslyn, who was also of Scotch lineage. Born in Massachusetts, he 
removed from there to Oneida, N. Y., and later settled near Brockport, Monroe 
County, purchasing a farm of four hundred acres in and adjoining the village. 
From his land he platted a portion of the town. He continued to reside there 
until his death, which occurred at sixty years.

While the family lived in Oneida County, Abijah, son of Thomas Cagwin, was 
born, and he was reared there and in Monroe County, learning the trades of 
tanner and shoemaker. For a time he conducted a tannery at Brockport, but it 
burned down in 1834, entailing a total loss. Having no longer any interests in 
the east, he determined to seek a home in the new and growing west. Coming to 
Illinois in 1835, he bought a large tract of land just east of Joliet, on 
Hickory street, purchasing the same at the land sale in Chicago. He then 
returned east and bought the necessary equipments for a sawmill, which he 
shipped to Chicago and thence conveyed by wagon to Joliet. Building a sawmill, 
he began the manufacture of hardwood lumber, and on the 4th of July, 1836, 
surrounded by a crowd of patriotic citizens, who came more than twenty miles, 
he sawed the first board used in the building of one of the first frame houses 
in Joliet. As sawmills were scarce, he was successful in them work, and 
continued to manufacture lumber there for fifteen years.

Meantime Mr. Cagwin served eight years as justice of the peace. At the same 
time he bought real estate in Joliet, which he improved with residences and 
then sold. At the expiration of his term as justice he was elected county 
judge, filling the office for many years. In both cases he was endorsed and 
elected by both parties. Later he embarked in the grain and mercantile 
business on what is now North Chicago, near Cass street, his being the first 
business place in that section of the city. For many years he continued in the 
grain trade, at the same time improving lands and farming. He laid out and 
named Cagwin and Scribner streets, the latter being named in honor of his 
wife. The property is still in the family and is handled by Munroe Brothers. 
He was an active factor in organizing the Will County Bank, of which he served 
as president until he disposed of his stock, Henry D. Higinbotham being vice-
president, and Benjamin Richardson, cashier. Politically he was a Democrat, 
and fraternally a Knight Templar Mason. In the organization of the 
Universalist Church of Joliet he took an active part and continued to be one 
of its leading members during his remaining years. He died October 2, 1890, 
when eighty-two years of age.

The wife of Abijah Cagwin was Hannah Scribner, who was born in Poultney, Vt., 
a daughter of Deacon Peter Scribner, an Englishman by birth. On coming to 
America her father settled in New Hampshire, but later went to Vermont, where 
he engaged in farming and sheep-raising. When he was ninety-four years of age 
he was accidentally killed by a fall from a tree. His brother, Samuel, settled 
in New York City and founded Scribner's Magazine, long one of the standard 
periodicals of the country. Mrs. Cagwin died March 30, 1892, when eighty-four 
years of age. Of her eight children we note the following: Merritt O. is the 
eldest of the family; Mrs. Helen Harwood lives in Atlanta, Ga.; Mrs. Sarah 
Barrett makes her home in Joliet; Thomas P. lives in Milwaukee, Wis.; Hamden 
A., a grain merchant, and Nancy, both died in Joliet; Mrs. Rosa Briggs is 
living here; and Abijah, the youngest, who was a member of the Mississippi 
squadron, U. S. N., during the Civil war, is now in California.

The subject of this article was born in Brockport, N. Y., May 14, 1828, and 
was eight years of age when his father returned east, making the trip on an 
Indian pony, and then, with a team and wagon, brought the family to Illinois 
via Canada and Michigan, arriving in Joliet May 8, 1836, after a trip of one 
month. From the age often he assisted on the farm and in the mill. When he was 
fifteen his father opened a store, in which he clerked during the next three 
years. He then went to Chicago, wThere he worked for an uncle, who was an 
auctioneer, and later traveled for two years. Meantime he purchased eighty 
acres of state land at a canal sale, and on this he began in the stock 
business. By the purchase of additional property he became the owner of about 
four hundred acres lying east of Joliet. The discovery of gold in California 
awakened in Mr. Cagwin's mind a determination to seek the far west. In 1851 he 
went to San Francisco via New York and the Nicaragua route, and taking his 
course up the American River engaged in mining. A year's experience, however, 
satisfied him with the life of a miner, and he returned home via Panama and 
New York. On arriving in this county he started in the grain business, which 
he followed for four years, and then traded for twelve hundred acres in Wilton 
Township. There he engaged in raising high-grade cattle. During the war he was 
serving as township supervisor. It was his desire to enlist in the army, but 
could not pass the required medical examination. Nevertheless, he did all in 
his power to advance the Union cause, and donated $10 to each member of the 
first company organized in his vicinity.

Returning to Joliet, Mr. Cagwin purchased a grain elevator on the canal, which 
he conducted with his father. Next he spent three years in the grain business 
at Wilmington, after which he built the White Cloud mill and manufactured 
flour. Nine years were also spent in the grain business in Elwood.  

Again coming to Joliet, he bought an elevator on the west side, which was 
known as the Jesse elevator. On selling out he bought a farm on Spring Creek, 
in Lockport Township, three miles from Joliet, and engaged in superintending 
the management of its one hundred and five acres until 1891, when he returned 
to Joliet, leaving the estate in charge of his son, Harlow. Since his return 
to the city he has resided on Cass street, in the old home of the Higinbotham 
family.

Until the first presidential campaign of Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Cagwin was a 
Democrat, but since then he has been stanch in his adherence to Republican 
principles. He is a demitted member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, 
and in religion is a Universalist. During the early days, while holding the 
office of highway commissioner, he laid out Cass street as a road and also 
opened up Washington street. He also served as collector of Joliet Township 
and supervisor of Wilton Township. During his term of service as highway 
commissioner he made twelve miles of hard gravel road in the township. He has 
ever been active in measures for the benefit of the people. The welfare of 
Joliet and Will County is ever uppermost in his mind, and he has favored every 
enterprise calculated to promote their progress. No citizen has shown greater 
public spirit than he. Having been so long and intimately identified with the 
business interests of the county, he has witnessed the development of its 
commerce, the extension of its influence and the enlargement of its resources.

On the Higinbotham farm, in January, 1851, occurred the marriage of Mr. Cagwin 
and Miss Ambrosia Higinbotham. They are the parents of five children, namely: 
Albert, who is connected with a tobacco manufacturing business in Chicago; 
Mrs. Almeda Pritz, of Pueblo, Colo.; Nellie, at home; Fred, a business man in 
Michigan City, Ind.; and Harlow T., who operates the home farm. Mrs. Cagwin's 
father, Henry D. Higinbotham, was born in Otsego County, N. Y., and, in 1834, 
when a young man, came to Illinois and entered a large farm, becoming in time 
one of the most successful farmers of this county. In 1854 he established his 
home at No. 1009 Cass street, where he died in 1865, aged fifty-nine years. He 
was the only one of four brothers who came to this county. In many respects 
his success was remarkable, for in spite of hardships and obstacles in early 
days he accumulated what was for that time a fortune. Of the Universalist 
faith, he was one of the most generous contributors to the church of that 
denomination in Joliet. He was a Knight Templar Mason and in politics a stanch 
Democrat.

The marriage of Henry D. Higinbotham united him with Miss Rebecca Wheeler, who 
was born in New York state. Her father, Samuel B., was born in New England and 
removed to New York, where he worked as a wagon maker until his death. In 
1832, his son, Mansfield, came to Illinois and settled on a farm in what is 
now  Will County. The children of Mr. and Mrs. Higinbotham were seven in 
number, the most prominent being Harlow Niles Higinbotham, of the firm of 
Marshall Field & Co., Chicago. Years ago, on starting out in business, he was 
employed by Potter Palmer and continued with the latter's successors, Field & 
Leiter, as a credit man. In time he purchased L. Z. Leiter's interest in the 
business and became a member of the firm. In public affairs he has also been 
very active, and is one of Chicago's best known citizens. At the time of the 
World's Fair he held the office of president of the same, and the remarkable 
success of his work attracted world-wide attention. Politically he is a 
Republican. The other sons and daughters of H. D. Higinbotham are as follows: 
Albert, who served in Scott's Chicago regiment during the entire Civil war and 
died in Joliet; Mrs. Ambrosia Cagwin; Mrs. Ann Eliza Demmond, of Joliet; Mrs. 
Gertrude Leddy, who died in Joliet; Mrs. Ellen Darwin, who also passed away in 
this city; and Charles, who is connected with the Elgin postoffice.

Additional Comments:
Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County Illinois Containing 
Biographies of Well Known Citizens of the Past and Present

Biographical Publishing Company; Chicago 1900

File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/cagwin1636nbs.txt

This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/

File size: 10.6 Kb