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HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
Ralph is the inventor of a combined fly-screen and a storm construction for doors and windows, which promises to be largely adopted by building trades. In 1857 he was married to Miss Mary Amanda Beck, sister of the late Judge Beck of the Supreme Court of Colorado. The children born to Mr. and Mrs. Ralph, now living, are: Mrs. C. W. Marshall, Prank H. and Grace A.-all of Aurora. One daughter, formerly the wife of Judge R. P. Goodwin, of Aurora, died in 1888.
JOHN RANSTEAD (deceased), pioneer farmer and legislator, born in Westmoreland, N. H., in 1803, grew to manhood in his native State, where he obtained a superior education for those days. He married Mercy West, who was a native of Vermont, and came with his family to Illinois in 1837. Mr. Ranstead was one of the first settlers at Udina, Kane County, and, during his residence of more than thirty years in that locality, was known as one of the leading farmers of the county, as well as a progressive and influential citizen. He was elected Representative in the Eighteenth General Assembly (1852-54). Mr. Ranstead died in 1868; his wife survived him until 1895, dying at the age of seventy-eight years.
JOHN W. RANSTEAD, lawyer and banker, Elgin, Ill., born at Udina, Kane County, Ill., son of John and Mercy (West) Ranstead, and great-grandson of one of the Revolutionary heroes who fell on the battlefield of Bennington, Vt. Reared on the farm, he was educated in the old-time subscription school of Kane County; later attended Elgin Academy, and in 1863 graduated from Lombard University, Galesburg, Ill. In 1866 he graduated from the Law Department, University of Michigan, and two years later began legal practice in Elgin. In 1873 he was elected Judge, serving in that capacity nine successive years, by which time his clientage had so increased that he retired from public life to devote his entire attention to its demands. For many years he has been associated with the banking interests of Elgin, and is now (1903) President of the Home National Bank, and a Director of the Home Savings Bank. In 1867 he was married to Miss Eugenia A. Fuller, daughter of Rev. J. P. and Adeline (Cady) Fuller, of Galesburg, Ill.
NATHANIEL RATLIFFE, retired, Batavia, Ill., was born in England, March 14, 1840, where he was reared and educated; mastering the shoemaker's trade, he located in Batavia, Ill., and
