Hon. William Ellery Ives, born on May 24, 1821, in Ellery, New York, was a pioneering lawyer and influential figure in Amboy, Illinois. Moving to Illinois in his youth, he pursued a legal career, graduating from National Law School in 1852 and becoming Amboy’s first attorney in 1854. Ives was instrumental in founding the town’s first newspaper and significantly contributed to its development. He married Susan R. Ryon in 1841, and they had five children. A dedicated Republican, he served as Mayor of Amboy and States Attorney, and was active in the Baptist Church and Freemasonry.
Hon. William Ellery Ives. The best biography of an honorable and influential man is sure to be his own works. The simple recital of prominent events in the life of Mr. Ives needs not to be elaborated by the biographical writer, and the personality of names, places, and dates is important only as they enable the reader to trace the steps of his mental growth. He is widely known as an eminent attorney-at-law and is the pioneer lawyer of Amboy, where his shingle has been hung to the breeze since 1854. He has been foremost in all important measures for the development of the city and was the prime mover in founding and carrying on the first newspaper ever published here.
Ellery, Chautauqua County, N.Y., was the native place of Mr. Ives, and May 24, 1821, the date of his birth. His parents, Almon and Nancy (Tomblin) Ives, were natives respectively of Vermont and New York, and the former was engaged as a farmer and civil engineer. At Malone, a town on the St. Lawrence River in New York, he married, and in 1816 settled in the western part of that State when it was an unsettled country. In 1834 he migrated to Illinois under promise to survey the public lands, but when he came West Andrew Jackson, then President, concluded that to the “victor belongs the spoil,” and as Mr. Ives was a Whig, his services were not desired. He settled in that part of La Salle County which in 1840 became Kendall County, and improved a farm. In the public affairs of the county, he became quite prominent, serving as the first Recorder of Deeds, and afterward becoming Judge of the County Court, which office he held several terms.
In 1854 the father of our subject removed to Bloomington, this State, and a year later came to Amboy, where he died March 5, 1864, aged seventy-five years and eight months. During the last years of his life, he was a staunch supporter of the Republican party, and in his religious sentiments, he was an earnest member of the Baptist Church. The mother of our subject died at Amboy, April 22, 1862. There were nine children in the family, of which our subject was a member, as follows: Almon B., a lawyer at Bloomington, Ill., where he died; Simeon P., a minister in the Baptist Church, now residing in Missoula, Mon.; William E., of this sketch; Franklin B., a physician, whose home is in Chicago; Isaac S., formerly a physician at Oswego, Ill., where he died in 1852; Sarah M., who married Alfred Tucker and resides at Ottawa, Ill.; Enos J., a member of the Board of Trade at Chicago, and a resident of Woodlawn; Ruth A., who married Willis Hawthorn, and died in Amboy; and Nancy, who became the wife of Warren C. Sears, and makes her home in Burlington, Kan.
When the Ives family moved to Illinois, William E. was but a boy entering upon his teens. His youth was passed upon a farm, and he received a good education at Grandville Academy. Having resolved to enter upon the practice of law, he attended the National Law School at Ballston Spa, N.Y., where he graduated in 1852. He first located for the practice of law in Oswego, Ill., whence he came to Amboy, becoming the first attorney here, and now enjoying the distinction of being the oldest lawyer in Lee County. Besides attending to his large practice, he manages a stock farm which he owns, located near Amboy and comprising one thousand acres.
On December 8, 1841, occurred the marriage of Mr. Ives to Miss Susan R., daughter of James Ryon, and sister of Dr. Ryon, of Amboy, whose sketch is presented in another portion of this volume. Mrs. Ives was born April 17, 1821, in Tioga County, Pa., and her union with Mr. Ives has been blessed by the birth of five children, two of whom died in childhood. The survivors are Charles E., a lawyer of Amboy; Esther N., wife of Elijah A. Winn, of Amboy; and James R., of Denver, Col. The latter is a graduate of Rochester University, N.Y., and a lawyer by profession, having practiced for a time in Dixon, this State. Thence he removed to Denver in 1881 and there published a paper called the Mining Review. He has devoted considerable attention to literary pursuits, and as a writer possesses more than ordinary ability, wielding a ready pen and being known as a forcible illustrator of truths. Financially, he has been very successful and is now devoting his energies mainly to real estate, although he was recently interested in the Colorado Business Directory as its publisher.
During his earlier years, Mr. Ives was a staunch adherent of the Whig party, but has been a member of the Republican party since he served as a delegate to the convention which organized the party in this State. In 1860 he made “stump” speeches for Abraham Lincoln for the Presidency, and has contributed his influence to the success of the party. Frequently he is called upon to serve as a delegate to District and State conventions, and in many positions of trust and responsibility, he has served always with distinguished ability. As Mayor of the city of Amboy, he served creditably for four years and contributed no little to the development of the resources of the place. He was also States Attorney for six years. He is serving as Treasurer of the Baptist Church, of which he is a consistent member. Socially, he belongs to the Royal Arch Masons. His home is one of the most elegant in Amboy and is the only residence here which is heated by hot water. His success has not been attained without great effort on his part, for when he came here he was quite poor, and it has been only by the exercise of great industry and shrewd judgment that he has become well-to-do.