Will County IL Archives Biographies.....Tyler, Simeon S 
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Deb Haines ddhaines@gmail.com November 10, 2007, 2:00 am

Author: Genealogical and Biographical Record of Will County

SIMEON S. TYLER, who is engaged in the insurance and real-estate business in 
Joliet, was born in this county May 1, 1849. He is a member of a family whose 
genealogy is traced back to 1317 in England and Holland and whose members have 
been prominent in American history since early colonial days. To the same 
family belongs John Tyler, president of the United States, 1841-45. Simeon B. 
Tyler, father of our subject, was one of the earliest settlers of this county, 
whither he came from Bethel, Sullivan County, N. Y., at the same time with 
Squire Flagg. He built the sawmill on the Dupage River at Plainfield. In it he 
sawed the lumber that was hauled to Chicago by Squire Flagg and used in the 
building of the first frame house in the town. His own impressions of Chicago 
had not been favorable. He had landed from a boat in Chicago and found a town 
of tents. He was offered for ten shillings an acre, the land where the court 
house now stands, but it looked so uninviting that he had no desire to become 
its purchaser, even for that small sum. Coming to Plainfield he bought one 
hundred and sixty acres, to which he added later. He was a carpenter by trade 
and erected many of the first buildings in Plainfield. Some years afterward he 
took up farm work, in which he continued until his death. Active in religious 
work he was a leading Baptist of his locality and assisted in building two 
churches in Plainfield. He did not take any part in public affairs, preferring 
private business to office. After coming to this county he married Ruth, 
sister of Jason Flanders, a pioneer of Plainfield. Nine children were born to 
their union, four of whom are living. A. H. Tyler, who died February 8, 1900, 
enlisted in the Union army in 1862, when only fifteen years of age, and served 
for three years as a member of the One Hundredth Illinois Infantry. Lansing H. 
is a large farmer of Remington, Ind.; Ralph W., for many years a traveling 
salesman, makes his home in Galesburg, Ill.; and Esther R. married Wesley 
Simmons, a farmer and stockman of Fairbury, Neb. The first among the four now 
living is the subject of this article. He was reared in Plainfield, where his 
father resided from 1832 until his death in February, 1889. When he was a boy 
his older brothers started to the front to aid in defending the Union. One of 
them, Hubbard A., who was then seventeen years old, died of typhoid fever at 
Nashville, Tenn., during his term of service. Unable on account of his youth 
to go with his brothers, our subject was forced to content himself with the 
routine of study in the village school. Later he studied in the Northwestern 
College of the Evangelical Church, which was then in Plainfield, but is now in 
Naperville. His first venture in business was as a merchant in Evansville, 
Ind. After some time he came to Joliet. Later he made a trip to Kansas and 
selected land near Dodge City, on the old Santa Fe trail. Locating there he 
was for three and one-half years engaged in the clearing and cultivating of 
his land, after which he returned to Joliet. As an insurance agent he 
represents twelve of the old-line standard companies. Since he started in the 
insurance business nearly twenty-five years ago he has represented a number of 
these companies steadily, which speaks volumes for his ability and knowledge 
of the business. From early boyhood his sympathies have been with the 
Republican party, which he was reared to believe the party of advance and 
progress. His father had on his place a station of the underground railroad 
and was a stanch Abolitionist and Republican, and his brothers were no less 
strong in their political sympathies. However, he has never cared for office 
and has never been active in politics. Fraternally he is connected with Mount 
Joliet Lodge No. 42, A. F. & A M. In 1888 he erected on Eastern avenue the 
comfortable residence where he and his family have since made their home. He 
was married, November 18, 1874, to Miss Lovice B. Towne, a daughter of 
Caroline (Hammond) Towne, of Waupun, Wis. They have two children, Walter S. 
and Dorris, the former a student in the Illinois University. The family are 
connected with Central Presbyterian Church.

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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