Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Sprague, Charles N 
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Deb Haines http://www.rootsweb.com/~archreg/vols/00003.html#0000719 February 29, 2008, 12:51 am

Author: Past and Present of Will County, IL; 1907

Charles N. Sprague, who for more than twenty-one years has been a resident of 
Joliet, where he is engaged in the creamery business and in the manufacture of 
ice cream, was born in Dupage, Will county, June 19, 1846. His father, Thomas 
J. Sprague, was born in Hamburg, Erie county, New York, November 23, 1810, and 
was reared to manhood on a farm. After having engaged in merchandising for two 
years in the east he came to Will county in 1838, taking up his abode in 
Dupage township. There he purchased a farm of one hundred and sixty acres, 
which he converted from a wild tract into richly cultivated fields, and by the 
purchase of canal and government land he ultimately became the owner of over 
five hundred acres, which he held until his death. For many years he was 
actively and successfully engaged in general farming and in 1888 he removed to 
Joliet, where he resided until his death, which occurred on the 22d of 
October, 1898, living retired from business during the period of his residence 
in the city. In politics he was a stalwart democrat and fraternally he was 
connected with Lockport lodge, No. 53S, A. F. & A. M. He had been reared in 
the faith of the Society of Friends and was a believer in Christianity, yet 
did not identify himself with any denomination. Thomas J. Sprague was married 
January 9, 1845, to Mrs. Lydia (Swift) Godfrey, a daughter of Shubael and 
Eunice (Olmstead) Swift. Her father was born and reared in Austerlitz, 
Columbia county, New York, where he engaged in farming until 1S35, when he 
drove across the country to Dupage township, Will county, Illinois. He entered 
a claim from the government and afterward purchased canal land. Several years 
later he sold that farm and removed to Waukegan, Illinois, where he died at 
the age of ninety-four. In politics he was a democrat. His wife had died in 
New York when thirty-seven years of age, leaving three children. One of these, 
Lydia, was born December 28, 1818, on the homestead at Austerlitz, and in 1835 
she came with the family to Illinois, continuing with her parents until 1839, 
when she married Charles Godfrey, who came to this county from the east in 
1833. They had three children: Eunice E., the wife of Reuben W. Killmer; 
Joseph, of Joliet; and Mrs. Julia M. Lord, of this city. A few years after the 
death of Mr. Godfrey his widow became the wife of Mr. Sprague. Three of their 
children died in childhood and Thomas J. Sprague died in Joliet, October 3, 
1893, after successfully practicing medicine in this city. The living sons are 
Charles N. and Frank, and the daughters are Elizabeth, wife of Jonathan 
Mather; Harriet, widow of Albert Phelps, of Dupage township; and Celia, widow 
of George E. Royce, of Naperville, Illinois. Charles N. Sprague attended the 
district schools in the winter months and in the summer seasons worked on the 
home farm. He remained under the parental roof until twenty-three years of age 
and then started out in life on his own account, purchasing a farm and 
devoting his time to its improvement. Later he became interested in a 
creamery, which he conducted in connection with his father, meantime renting 
his farm and making his home in Joliet. He continued his connection with the 
creamery until February 1, 1897, when he disposed of his interest in the 
plant. This was located at Dupage, where the manufacture of cheese was also 
conducted. In 1886 Mr. Sprague removed to Joliet, where he established a 
creamery now located at No. 707 Van Buren street. He has since carried on an 
extensive business in this line and he also manufactures ice cream and deals 
in all kinds of dairy products. He likewise conducted a live stock business 
near Marseilles, La Salle county, Illinois, where in 1897 he purchased a farm 
of five hundred and thirty-six acres. He makes a specialty of breeding short-
horn Durham cattle and has found stock-raising a profitable branch of his 
business. He is likewise interested at the present time in the Joliet Lime 
Stone company, being one of its stockholders. Mr. Sprague is well known in 
Masonic circles, having become a member of the craft in Lockport lodge, No. 
538, A. F. & A. M., in 1872. He is now connected with Madison lodge. In 
political faith he is independent, supporting men and measures rather than 
party. For one year he served as assessor of Dupage township and for five 
terms filled the office of town clerk, but has never sought political honors, 
preferring to concentrate his time and energies upon his business interests. 
With his family he holds membership in the Presbyterian church and has been 
one of its trustees. It was on the 25th of November, 1869, in Dupage, that Mr. 
Sprague was united in marriage to Miss Alice C. Killmer, a daughter of R. W. 
Killmer, well known in Dupage and Joliet, having been one of the pioneer 
settlers of the county. Mr. and Mrs. Sprague have lost one child and have two 
living daughters and a son: Hattie, the wife of Robert Matteson, of Clinton, 
Iowa; Mabel L., at home; and Thomas, who is a student in the Joliet school. 
Mr. and Mrs. Sprague are greatly esteemed by those who know them as people of 
genuine personal worth and in business circles he has made a creditable 
record, placing his dependence not on any fortunate combination of 
circumstances or the aid of influential friends, but upon close application 
and perseverance. He is now in control of a successful business and his 
reliability stands as an unquestioned fact in his life history. 

Additional Comments:
PAST AND PRESENT OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS By W. W. Stevens President of the 
Will County Pioneers Association; Chicago: The S. J. Clarke Publishing 
Company, 1907

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