HISTORY OF KANE COUNTY.
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Brevet Brigadier-General. During its term of service of over three years, this regiment took part in some of the most memorable battles of the war, including those of Shiloh, Corinth (siege and second battle), Iuka, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Atlanta, Jonesboro and the "March to the Sea" with Sherman. General Wilcox is a member of the Society of the Army of the Tennessee, and he and his two brothers just named are comrades of the Illinois Commandery of the Grand Army of the Republic and companions of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States. His residence has been at Elgin, and in his civil and business life he has held numerous positions, including those of member of the Elgin Academy and Library Boards; Mayor of Elgin in 1867, and Postmaster of that city, appointed in 1876; Director of the First National Bank and the Elgin City Banking Company, of the Loan & Homestead Company, of the Packing Company of the Kane County Agricultural Society, and of the Chicago & Pacific Railway Company, in connection with the latter also holding the position of General Solicitor. In religious belief General Wilcox is a Universalist, and in his political affiliations a stalwart Republican. His latest public service has been in connection with the preparation of the History of the Early Settlement of Kane County, preceding the Biographical Department of this work, to which he has devoted much faithful and laborious research with gratifying results. General Wilcox and wife have been the parents of four children, of whom three are still living, viz.: Dwight Conger, now of Pine Bluff, Ark.; Marie W., now Mrs. Pits, of Reading, Mass.; and Miss Marguerite, at home with her parents, their second son, John Hill, having died, August 3, 1892. They have six grandchildren.
JOHN W. WILCOX, retired farmer, St. Charles, Ill., born at Colebrook, Conn., April 2, 1811; came to Kane County, Ill., in April, 1850 locating on a farm in Plato Township, removed to St. Charles Township in 1883, remaining there, on the farm he still owns, until 1901. Since the latter date he has lived retired in St. Charles village. Mr. Wilcox has been twice married, his first wife, whom he married Nov. 22, 1835, being Sallie Stowell, who died Dec. 29, 1865. June 4, 1867, he married for his second wife Mary McPaggart Marble.
SILVANUS WILCOX, eldest son of Gen. Elijah Wilcox, was born September 30, 1818, in Glen Township, Montgomery County, N. Y. At the age of fifteen years his lather obtained his appointment to the West Point Military Academy. Among his classmates were Generals W. T. Sherman, George H. Thomas and Stewart Van Vleit, and his room-mates were Generals H. W. Haileck and Schuyler Hamilton. For years these close friends held their delightful annual reunions, until one by one they were mustered from their exceptionally honored earthly careers into the higher spiritual life. Mr. Wilcox was married August i/7, 1840, at Amsterdam, N. Y., to Miss Jane Mallery, and they had one son, also named Silvanus, who died unmarried. The father was a man of fearless and unwavering integrity of thought, speech, and action, and a very able and conscientious lawyer. Although averse to holding public office, he was twice elected Judge of the Circuit Court, discharging his duties intelligently and with high integrity. He was an independent Union Democrat, and an active Universalist. He died January 15, 1902, holding in a marked degree the confidence and respect of the community.
WILLIAM H. WILCOX, lawyer and real-estate operator, Elgin, Ill., was born in Tilton-ville, Montgomery County, N. Y., Jan. 13, 1836, came with his parents to Kane County in 1842, and grew to manhood on his father's farm, receiving his education in the public schools and at Lombard University Oalesburg. In 1859 he went to Missouri where he was conducting a plantation in Dade County when the Civil War broke out. In the spring of 1861 he returned to Elgin, where he helped organize Company G, of the Fifty-second Illinois Volunteer Infantry, of which he was commissioned First Lieutenant. Shortly after the battle of Pittsburg Landing he became Captain of his company, and continued as its commander until mustered out at Savannah, Ga., after three years and four months of active and laborious service. During this period he participated in all the campaigns of the Army of the Tennessee, except the movement against Vicksburg, taking part in the battles of Pittsburg Landing, Iuka, Corinth, Chickamauga, Resaca, Kenesaw Mountain, Lovejoy Station and many others. In 1865 Captain Wilcox returned to Elgin, studied law, and was admitted to the bar. He
Dundee Area History
