Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Linn, William D B 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 12:17 pm

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

WILLIAM D. B. LINN, who came to Joliet October 1, 1858, and has since been 
identified with the interests of this city and county, is a descendant, in the 
third generation, from a Revolutionary soldier, and in the second generation 
from William Linn, a native of Connecticut, who served as captain in the war 
of 1812. His father, W. D. B. Linn, Sr.,was born in Berkshire County, Mass., 
and engaged in the marble business for years in Pittsfield, that county,where 
he died. He had married Melinda Decker, who was born in Hudson, N. Y., and 
died in Massachusetts; her father, Peter Decker, was a native of New York, of 
Holland-Dutch ancestry. In a family consisting of five daughters and two sons, 
of whom four daughters and one son are living, the subject of this sketch was 
next to the oldest. He was born in Lanesboro, Berkshire County, Mass., March 
6, 1833, and was reared in and near Pittsfield, where he attended the public 
school. Later he was a student in the Williamstown boarding-school, where he 
clerked after completing his studies. When he came to Joliet he was a total 
stranger to the people in this section and knew but one man in the entire 
county. Settling on a farm near Manhattan, he began to raise stock and general 
farm products. Three years later he bought a farm in Manhattan Township, a 
portion of which is now the site of the village of Manhattan, and for some 
time he gave his attention to the improvement of its one hundred and fifty 
acres. Until 1870 he dealt in various grades of stock, but turned his 
attention in that year exclusively to Holstein cattle, bringing from 
Massachusetts the first thoroughbred Holstein ever brought into Illinois. The 
animal was named "Sleswig," and was a pure Holstein, he and his breed being 
the only ones that were imported from Holstein, the others of the name having 
been imported from the north of Holland. For some years his were the only 
Holstein cattle in the county, and at times he had as many as thirty head. 
Selling his farm in 1891, Mr. Linn removed to Joliet, where he has since made 
his home. In the fall of 1894 he embarked in the livery business, renting a 
barn 44x150 feet at Nos. 815-817 Cass street, where he has since carried on a 
livery and boarding-stable. He has never been active in politics, but takes an 
interest in the same, and votes with the Democratic party. For a time he 
served as township clerk of Manhattan. In 1861 he was made a Mason in Matteson 
Lodge, A. F. & A. M., of Joliet, with which he has since been connected. His 
marriage united him with Miss Harriet M. Buck, who was born in Berkshire, 
Mass., and by whom he has a daughter, Florence. It is a fact worthy of note 
that he, his father and his grandfather, were each the only son in the family 
who attained years of maturity. He is a public-spirited citizen, and takes an 
interest in matters that will promote the welfare of his city and county.

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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