Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Scutt, Frank W 1868 - ************************************************ 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 May 6, 2007, 2:50 pm Author: Portrait & Bios Album, 1890 FRANK W. SCUTT, Secretary of the Joliet Wheel Company, and also of the Joliet Barb Wire Company, is numbered among the active business men of the city and has for many years been identified with its leading interests. He is the offspring of an old and highly respected family and the only child of the well- known H. B. Scutt, who came to this county about 1862. He was born May 29, 1868, and acquired an excellent education, completing his studies at Phillips' Academy in Andover, Mass. After leaving the Academy Mr. Scutt returned to his native city and in company with his father became identified with the Barb Wire Company, of which he was soon made the Secretary in order to assist his father who was suffering from ill health. It was not long before he virtually assumed the whole management of the business, which is now being gradually closed out. In 1889, in company with R. G. Surbridge of Chicago, he organized the Joliet Wheel Company, which was incorporated in December, 1889, with a capital of $25,000. F. W. Schroeder was elected President, F. W. Scutt, Secretary, and R. G. Surbridge, Superintendent. They are already giving employment to fifty men and expect before the close of the season (1890) to require the services of one hundred men. Mr. Scutt was recently elected a Director of the Pioneer & Commonwealth Insurance Company, of Chicago. He is also a Director of the Young Men's Christian Association, of Joliet, and a Trustee of the First Presbyterian Church. He was married May 8, 1889, to Miss Mary A. Payne, of Stony Point, N. Y. They have one son, born May 11, 1890, named Harrold Benjamin. This lady was born November 15, 1869, at Astoria, Long Island, and is the daughter of the Hon. A. T. Payne. The father is a prominent and successful attorney, of Brooklyn. He was at one time Corporation Counsel of Long Island City and a Representative to the General Assembly of New York State, at Albany. Mrs. Scutt was given a good education at Rockland College, Nyack, N. Y., then completing her studies at the Delaware Literary Institute,Franklin, Delaware County, N. Y. Hiram B. Scutt, the father of our subject, was born November 14, 1842, in Delaware County, N.Y., and came to this county about 1862, becoming the employe of Charles Ward, who operated a planingmill. After the outbreak of the Civil War he entered the Union Army as a member of the Second Illinois Light Artillery. For valiant services he was, near the close of the war, promoted to a Captaincy, but did not receive his commission until after his return home. Mr. Scutt, about 1868, engaged as a traveling salesman for the Geneva (N. Y.) Nursery, and was thus occupied until 1871. Then returning to the West he was instrumental in establishing the first barb wire business in Joliet, associating himself in partnership with William Watkins, under the firm name of Scutt & Watkins. Later the Joliet Wire Fence Company was organized, of which Mr. Scutt was made President. The most successful enterprise in which he engaged, however, was as a member of the firm of H. B. Scutt & Co., which included James R. Ashley, and engaged in the manufacture of wire in the Joliet Penitentiary, and gave employment to one hundred and fifty men. The company sold out in 1884 to Messrs. Oliver Bros. & Phillips, of Pittsburg, Pa., who now continue the business under the firm name of H. B. Scutt & Co., (limited). The father of our subject was not engaged in any business for a year afterward but not being content in idleness, organized the Joliet Barb Wire Company, of which he was made President. In 1884 he put up a handsome residence, the finest in the city, and pleasantly located on North Broadway. He was the first man to introduce the electric light in the city, as President of the Citizens' Electric Light Company. He never aspired to political honors. Hiram B. Scutt received a good education and during his early manhood emplo}red himself in teaching school. He left home about 1861, coming to Illinois and locating on a farm in DeKalb County. He was married in 1866, to Miss Adalaide Ward. This lady was born in 1842, in Rutland, Vt., and whose parents spent their last years in Vermont. She is still living, making her home in Joliet. Of her union with Mr. Scutt there were born two children, F. W., the subject of this sketch, and Grace, who died in infancy. Mr. Scutt departed this life at Lake Geneva, Wis., July 29, 1889, his death being caused by paresis—an overstraining of the mental faculties. He was thoroughly respected by his neighbors and business associates, and during the last Presidential election was quite prominent as having championed the cause of free trade as adopted by the Democracy. Prior to this he had been a stanch Republican. Additional Comments: Portrait and Biographical Album of Will County, Illinois, Containing Full Page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County; Chicago: Chapman Bros., 1890 File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/il/will/bios/scutt1348nbs.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/ilfiles/ File size: 5.6 Kb