Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Ducker, James 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 3:46 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

JAMES DUCKER. For many years one of the county's most influential citizens, 
Mr. Ducker was a pioneer dry-goods merchant and long held a prominent place 
among the business men of northeastern Illinois. When he started in business 
on the corner of Clinton and Chicago streets, in 1874, his was the first 
drygoods house on Chicago street; he continued to occupy Ducker's block, 
erected by himself, until his death, and meantime built up a very large trade 
in dry-goods, clothing and carpets.  While he was in some respects 
conservative, yet in business matters he was progressive, and he always led in 
matters bearing favorably upon the welfare of the people or the development of 
local interests. With Hon. George H. Munroe he took an active part in the 
building of the Joliet theatre, and for a time was president of the company 
that erected the building. He also bought the old Exchange hotel site, 
adjoining Barrett's hardware store, on Chicago street, where he had a frontage 
of sixty-six feet. So high was the opinion in which others held him as a 
merchant that after the Chicago fire he was offered a partnership in the firm 
of Marshall Field & Co., with the position of foreign buyer, but he had left 
England on account of its unhealthful climate and felt it inadvisable to 
return to that country, so declined the tempting offer. During early days his 
opinion in regard to goods and purchases was often sought by western 
merchants, notably Marshall Field & Co.

The life which this narrative sketches began in Epworth, England, October 27, 
1823, and closed in Joliet December 16, 1885. The Ducker family in a remote 
period migrated from Holland to England, where subsequent generations became 
prominent. James and Maria Ducker lived upon a farm at Epworth and were 
members of the Society of Friends. Their son, James, Jr., who forms the 
subject of this article, was apprenticed to the dry-goods business in Hull at 
fifteen years of age and served for five years, after which he worked for 
wages. In 1852 he came to America, hoping that the change would benefit his 
health. After a short time in Chicago he settled upon a farm in Frankfort 
Township, this county. One year on a farm convinced him that agriculture was 
not his forte in life. His crops were destroyed by hail and he gained nothing 
except experience. In 1853 he started one of the first stores in Mokena and 
during the twenty-one years of his residence there he became a prosperous 
merchant and large grain dealer. After he had been in America for a time two 
of his brothers crossed the ocean to seek homes here. One of them, George, is 
now engaged in ranching near Red Cloud, Neb., and the other, William B., died 
in Nebraska. In 1874 Mr. Ducker removed from Mokena to Joliet and began 
business in the block he had erected the preceding year. It had been his 
intentien to rent the building and settle in Chicago, but, owing to the block 
being remote from the business center, it was impossible to secure a tenant, 
and he therefore decided to engage in business himself. His success was steady 
and encouraging, and continued without a break until his death. He was never 
active in politics, although he kept posted concerning national issues and 
voted with the Republicans. In religious belief he was a member of the 
Episcopal Church. His wife is a member of the Universalist Church.

In Chicago, in 1854, Mr. Ducker married Jennette Allison, who was born in 
Glasgow, Scotland, a daughter of John and Jane (Mason) Allison, natives of 
Paisley, Scotland. She was third among six children, five of whom are living, 
all but herself living in Sterling, Whiteside County, Ill. She was reared in 
Scotland and was twenty years of age when, in 1853, sne came to Illinois. Her 
father, and grandfathers, James Allison and George Mason, were all 
manufacturers of shawls in Paisley,  and the last-named was a prominent 
Presbyterian  elder. She built the residence which she occupies, at No. 507 
Union street. In her family there are five children living: James W., a 
merchant in Mokena; Maria J., wife of Dr. Lewis Beck, a physician in Red 
Cloud, Neb.; George A., who is represented on another page; John J., a 
merchant of Joliet; and Jessie M., wife of John S. Luthy, of Chicago, a 
trusted man in Carson, Pirie, Scott & Co.'s wholesale house.

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

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