This gentleman, the present mayor of Marseilles, Illinois, is a man of large public spirit, closely identified with all the business interests of the town, and generally and favorably known throughout the county and state as a business man and politician. He was born in the town of Manlius, LaSalle county, March 27, 1862, and is a son of Burr and Dency (Mullen) Stebbins. His youth and early manhood were spent on the old homestead, but at the age of twenty he entered the business college at Dixon, Illinois, where he developed his naturally keen insight of the business world.
In 1883 he left school and his native state for the west, and while in the employ of the Sante Fe Railroad Company engaged in the real-estate business in Kansas and Nebraska, handling thousands of acres of rich agricultural lands. At the expiration of seven years he returned to Marseilles and opened a real-estate and insurance office, and now represents one of the largest insurance agencies in northern Illinois. He represented the Cincinnati Underwriters' Insurance Company as general agent for the west for over four years, having full charge of the state, with over one hundred agents. He has built up an excellent business, both in the insurance line and in the real-estate department. He is a man of keen foresight and executive force, of marked energy and sound judgment, and is seldom at error in regard to his opinion either of men or lands. He has a good stock farm in Brookfield township and other investments in the west.
In 1888 Mr. Stebbins was married to Miss Kate Kritchfield, of Wakeeney, Kansas, a daughter of Joseph Kritchfield, a prominent citizen of that place. Three children have been born to the union: Dencie E., Gladys B., and James LeRay. The family have a pleasant home on West Clark street, where their cordial hospitality is extended to a large circle of friends.
Mr. Stebbins is a Republican in politics, always having been an active worker in the party. He is a broad-minded, public-spirited man, and has spent freely of his time and money for the promotion of his city's prosperity, and as a testimony to his merit was elected to the office of mayor of the city last spring, by a very large majority of the votes of the people.
Extracted by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois published in 1900, volume 1, pages 155-156.
| Lee | DeKalb | Kane |
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Kendall |
| Putnam | Grundy | |
| Marshall | Woodford | Livingston |
