Will County IL Archives Biographies.....NEWKIRK, FRANK ************************************************ 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: Paula Winke-Martisek wranglerjack@comcast.net September 18, 2007, 5:08 pm Author: GENEALOGICAL AND BIOGRAPHICAL RECORD FRANK NEWKIRK. There are comparatively few who pause to consider our indebtedness to railroad engineers. In the darkness of the night and in the midst of wind or rain or snow, they carry safely the human beings committed to their care; and, when we reflect upon the small number of accidents in proportion to the number of trains, we are constrained to say that, as a class, engineers are the most trustworthy men in the world. Certainly such a statement may be made with truth concerning Mr. Newkirk, who is an engineer between Joliet and Chicago, and whose home is at No. 308 Richards street, Joliet. Concerning the genealogy of the Newkirk family, reference is made in the sketch of James E. Newkirk. Our subject was born on the home farm adjoining Joliet in 1858 and grew to manhood on the same place, meantime attending district schools. His first work was as teamster for the Joliet Stone Company. In January, 1884, he became fireman on the old Chicago, Pekin & Southwestern Railroad between Chicago and Pekin, being first on the freight and later on the passenger train. For some months, during 1886, he was employed in the Streator shops, and afterward was an engineer on a switch engine in the Streator yards for six weeks. His next position was that of engineer on the freight train between Pekin and Chicago. After two and one-half years he was made passenger engineer and ran between Joliet and Chicago, then between Chicago and Pekin. His next position was as engineer on the passenger train between Chicago and Fort Madison, a run of two hundred and forty miles, making four hundred and eighty miles on the round trip. Since June, 1899, he has run between Joliet and Chicago. An exceedingly careful and painstaking man, he has had no fatal accidents, and those he has had were the result of the negligence of others, not through any fault of his own. At Lorenzo, in 1888, his car was wrecked, but no one was injured but himself, and his injuries were slight. April 28, 1899, a stock car was blown from a siding to the main track, and his train ran into it, but no one was hurt. Besides his other interests, Mr. Newkirk is a stockholder in the Keltie Stone Company. He was raised a Mason in Mount Joliet Lodge No. 42, A. F. & A. M., and is also connected with Joliet Chapter No. 27, R.A.M., and Joliet Commandery No. 4, K. T. He is a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. In politics he votes the Republican ticket in both local and national elections. November 16, 1887, in Lemont, Illinois, he married Miss Alice Neill, who was born there, and by whom he has two children, Fred Hallock and Ruth. Mrs. Newkirk is a member of the Eastern Star and the Ladies' Order of Maccabees, and in religion is identified with the Methodist Episcopal Church. The grandfather of Mrs. Newkirk, John Neill, was a blacksmith in Perth, Scotland, but after coming to America engaged in farming in Caledonia, Wis., where he died. His widow, Margaret, is still living in Wisconsin. Both were Presbyterians from their childhood days. James B. Neill, Mrs. Newkirk's father, was born in Perthshire and settled in Wisconsin when twenty years of age, but afterward went back east and married in New York. During the Civil war he served as captain of Company C, New York Infantry, from 1861 to 1865, and was wounded while in the service. After the war he settled in Lemont, Ill., and worked as a blacksmith. He is now living, retired, on the west side in Joliet. He is connected with the Grand Army of the Republic. He had five children by his marriage to Hannah Hallock, who was born in New York state; her father, Josiah Hallock, who was a native of Vermont, removed thence to New York and later carried on a hotel business in Lemont, after which he was proprietor of the Auburn house in Joliet; he died in Lemont. 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/newkirk1719nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 4.5 Kb