John B. Fithian

COL. JOHN BARNARD FITHIAN.

OL. JOHN BARNARD FITHIAN. The position which Colonel Fithian has held in public and professional affairs since he came to Joliet in 1873 entitles him to rank among the leading men of the city. He was born in Liv ington County, N. Y., October 26, 1849, and was third in a family of five, his brothers and sisters being: W. W., who served in the Sixteenth Kansas Cavalry during the Civil war, but is now a resident of Joliet; Edward C., of Minnesota; Frances C., who resides in California; and Mrs. Lillian C. Lewis, of New York City. His father, Rev. William Fithian, a native of New Jersey, entered the ministry of the Presbyterian Church, remaining in the east until 1857, when he settled in northwestern Iowa. In the fall of 1860 he accepted a pastorate in Quincy, Ill. During the Civil war he entered the Union army and was as signed to the charge of the sanitary department, afterward making his headquarters in St. Louis. In later years he gave his time mostly to lecture ing, which work took him to the principal cities of the United States. He died of cholera in 1874. His wife, who was a daughter of Dr. Clark, of Dansville, N. Y., died in 1858.

The schooling of Colonel Fithian was limited to a few years, as since he was twelve he has been dependent upon his own efforts for the acquire ment of knowledge. In 1869 he secured employment in newspaper work in Carlinville, later was reporter on the Jacksonville Journal staff, next went to Belleville and from there to Litchfield. In February, 1873, he came to Joliet, where he was employed in connection with the penitentiary, and at the same time studied law.

In 1875 he assisted in organizing the militia, in which he was successively promoted from lower to higher offices, and at the time of his resignation in 1883 held the office of colonel of the Fourth Illinois Regiment. September 15, 1876, he was admitted to the bar, at which time he discontinued his other work and turned his attention to the building up of a general practice. I11 this he was successful, becoming known as a safe coun senor and able attorney. He has since devoted himself to the law, from the practice of which he has acquired a neat income as well as an excellent reputation.

Politics engaged Colonel Fithian ’s attention to the extent that it deserves of every public-spirited citizen. He is a stanch Republican, a believe in all of the party principles, but not an active politician. At this writing he is supervisor of the sixth district of Illinois for the census of 1900, his district comprising the counties of Will, Kankakee, Iroquois and Vermilion. In January, 1878, he married Edna C., daughter of Captain Whitaker, of Carlinville, Ill.; they have one child now living, Lillian Clare.

The connection of Colonel Fithian with the Masonic order dates from 1875, when he was initiated into the blue lodge and took the first degree of Masonry. He has since been an interested worker in the fraternity. On the organization of the council at Joliet he was one of its charter members. He has officiated as master for six years. In October, 1893, he was appointed district deputy grand master, to which position he has since been reappointed each year. For three years he was commander of the Comgenealogical and biographical record.

[This passage is too damaged in the scanned book to reproduce. See the original book.]

As printed in Genealogical and biographical record of Kendall and Will Counties, Illinois : containing biographies of well known citizens of the past and present (1901). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.