HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
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the city of Aurora was afterward located. His journey was made via the Brie Canal to Buffalo, by lake and river to Detroit, and by stage the rest of the way. Prior to his arrival his brother had secured for him a squatter's claim of 400 acres near his own, for which he had paid $60. When Mr. McCarty arrived, he found seven people on the site of the present city. A half-interest in his brother's claim was purchased by him, and in the fall of 1836 they surveyed and laid out the town of Aurora. The same year they built the first bridge across the east channel of the Fox River, and when it had to be replaced in 1838 they were, the principal contributors to its rebuilding. In 1836 they erected the first grist-mill in Aurora, and they also built the first saw-mill in Big Rock Township. When the State Line Road was located from Chicago to Galena in 1836, Samuel McCarty secured the opening of an intersecting road that reached Aurora, making close stage connections also with Naperville. In 1838 the death of the elder McCarty put Samuel McCarty at the head of the McCarty interests in Aurora, and for many years thereafter he was the leading property owner and the dominant spirit in the making of the city. It is worthy of note that during these years Mr. McCarty always refused to sell land to any man intending to engage in the sale of intoxicating liquor, and it was long before the traffic secured a foot-hold in the city. He gave the land on which is located the First Methodist church, and also the land on which the Congregational church formerly stood. Mr. McCarty was a member of the Methodist church, in which he held many official positions, and was a most active worker. For many years he was President of the Board of Trustees of Jennings Seminary, and he gave to the city Lincoln Park. His earlier years were devoted largely to the milling business, but later his real-estate interests in Aurora and Chicago became so extensive as to demand all his attention. His was the first brick residence erected in Kane County, and he built the first substantial frame building in Aurora. The Tremont Hotel, as well as other pioneer structures, were built by him. He died March 30, 1889, mourned by the public as the founder of the city of Aurora, and as a citizen most active in promoting its welfare. Mr. McCarty was married in 1837 to Miss Phoebe Stolp, of New York, who died in 1839. In 1847 he married Miss Emily Wheeler, of Chicago, who died in 1850. Three years later he married Mrs. Emily (Swayze) Davis, of Chicago, who survives him, and still lives in the old homestead at Aurora. The only surviving children of Mr. McCarty were born of his last marriage. They are: Mrs. Eva Dent Johnson, of Aurora; Sidney G., of Oakland, Cal., and Charles S., of Chicago. Besides Mrs. McCarty, the only representatives of this pioneer family now living in Aurora are Mrs. Johnson and her children, Helen M., Edwin N., and Lucy Gladys. Robert and Kenneth are sons of Sidney McCarty, the California representative of the family. Mrs. McCarty has a daughter born of her first marriage, now Mrs. Charles Roe, of Evanston. Her two daughters are Mrs. A. C. McCord, of Chicago and Mrs. B. W. Lord, of Burnside, Ky. Her two sons are Edgar C. and Samuel D. Roe, both of Evanston, Ill.
GEORGE McCOLLUM (deceased), manufacturer, Aurora, Ill., born at Montrose, Penn., in 1804, came to Kane County, Ill., in 1836, locating first at Aurora, where he engaged in black-smithing and later established a wagon and carriage manufactory, which he operated during his active business career and which is still operated by his sons, George S. and Orlando J. McCollum. Mr. McCollum died in 1893.
JOHN McCOY, implement dealer and farmer, St. Charles, Ill., born in Limerick, Ireland, July 8, 1848, son of John and Bridget (O'Brien) McCoy, natives of the same noted Irish city. The family came to America in 1857, and after spending a few weeks in Chicago, in June of that year went to St. Charles, Kane County. In 1867 the elder McCoy bought a farm in the north part of the township, where he spent the remainder of his life. John McCoy, Jr., lived with his parents working the farm as long-as they lived, when it fell to him by inheritance. He was actively engaged in farm work until 1900, when having leased his land he started in the agricultural implement trade in St. Charles, and in this business is still actively engaged. In politics he is independent. In May, 1864, although then only seventeen years of age, Mr. McCoy enlisted in Company K, One Hundred Forty-first Illinois Volunteer Infantry and bore arms until his time of service expired.' His parents were both long-lived, his father dying April 26, 1899, at the age of eighty-seven, and his mother, Dec. 29, 1897, at the age of eighty-four.
Dundee Area History
