A study of the genealogy of some of the pioneer families of McHenry County educes some interesting facts that should arouse the admiration, the gratitude and the applause of those who today enjoy the privileges and advantages produced by these pioneers, whose records of achievement are an important part of our history as a people, and it is for this purpose that the writer has undertaken, in the main, a review of the genealogical tree of a family whose history covers a span of more than a century of the most important period in the records of Northern Illinois.

While the study of genealogy, or ancestry, is an interesting one, the family whose record the writer is considering never banked on the same, but each descendant made his own mark in the world through inherent ability, "letting the chips fall were they might", and accomplished commendable things through sheer ability and straightforwardness of purpose. They may have given passing thoughts to such an ancestry, but hewed their own ways individually, realizing that personal worth and stern integrity are elements of character that are bound to prevail in the face of all obstacles.

The writer refers to the Joslyn family, whose progenitor, Lindsey Joslyn, became a resident of McHenry County in the latter part of 1836 or early in the following year.

The record of the Joslyn family shows that there were several changes in the patronymics of this well-known group which dates back to the Emperor Charlemagne, whose daughter married Count Joseline in the 12th century, and it is found that the name has been spelled also Jocelyne, Josseline and Joslin, the last named, the founder of the family in America, his given name having been Thomas. This descendant of a noted line came over from England in 1635 to Hingham, Massachusetts. Lindsey Joslyn, or Josselyn, the father for Lindsey Joslyn who became one of the first settlers of McHenry County, was born on Aug. 12, 1749, and descended from Thomas Joslyn, the founder of the family in America. He was married in the 1773 and was a soldier in the American revolution. Many of the members of this family were ironmongers or ironbloomers, hence it was not strange that the second Lindsey Joslyn began life in McHenry County as a blacksmith, serving the early settlers, and progressed along several lines as the years advanced.

Lindsey Joslyn, founder of the family in McHenry County, was born February 26, 1786 in Poultney, Massachusetts, and went to Cayuga County, New York in 1814, where he became quite well-to-do. Then, after losing his fortune by becoming surety for other parties, he removed to McHenry County, Illinois, about 1836 coming with his wife and sons and the Huffman family. They left Nunda, New York, by wagon to Buffalo, were they shipped their horses, wagon and a few household goods and went by steamer to Detroit, traveling then to McHenry County with horses and wagons. The Joslyn boys, hardy, vigorous,...

Having been endowed with a keen intelligence and an aggressive character, Lindsey Joslyn soon became a leading man in the community, and in 1848 he was elected probate and County Judge, the fifth in succession from Amory Thomas, the first to hold that office, the others following having been Andrew J. Barnum, Joel H. Johnson, (namer of Woodstock) and E. J. Smith. He was a member of the village board for six months in 1853 and in 1857-58 and served as street Commissioner in 1856.

Full of years and having performed well his part in the building of the community and its interests, he later moved to Elgin, where one son, Edward Joslyn, who bore the title of Colonel, became conspicuous as a lawyer and orator, and there he expired on October 10, 1863, aged over 77 years. His wife was formerly Polly Wait, fit companion for a sturdy pioneer and proud mother of worthy progeny.

This virile, upstanding citizen had five sons - one clergyman, three lawyers and one a physician, causing a biographer to comment: "The old Joslyn family was remarkable in many ways."

Merritt L. Joslyn, was the eldest son of Lindsey and Polly Wait Joslyn coming to McHenry County with the parents and brothers on a long trek from Detroit, Michigan. He was born in Livingston County , New York, September 10, 1825 and, as before stated, walked beside his father's wagon with his brothers to the then pioneer settlement near Crystal Lake. There he assisted his father on the farm and gained that practical education in farm work and in the early schools which many of the distinguished statesmen of that day acquired. He early began the study of law and entered the practice of his profession in McHenry County about the year 1848 and ere the Civil War broke out he had acquired a reputation and ability as a politician, having been chosen as a president elector on the Buchanan ticket in 1856.

The war record of Merritt L. Joslyn was a commendable one. He was one of the organizers of the Woodstock Rifles, one of the first companies to enter into active service from McHenry County, and was chosen as its Captain. It became Company H of the 36th Regiment, Illinois, Volunteer Infantry, and participated, among other engagements, in the battle of Pea Ridge, but his health broke and he could remain no longer and was honorably discharged. He went into the war a Democrat, having been an active participant in many campaigns of that party, but he came out a Republican and ever afterwards was recognized as one of the leading and influential stalwart leaders of the Party in Northern Illinois.

The story of his public service shows that Mr. Joslyn acted in many capacities and always with distinction, for he was a man of ideas, fearless, courageous and independent. From 1855 to 1857 he was a Corporation President of Woodstock; from 1864 to 1866 he was a member of the 24th General Assembly in the lower house at Springfield; on completing that term of service he was again chosen as a village president, serving from 1866 to 1867; in 1876 he was elected State Senator, serving during the sessions of the 30th and 31st General Assembly, form 1876 to 1880. In 1881 and to August 1882, he was mayor of the city of Woodstock, resigning to accept office under President Arthur, who named him as second Assistant Secretary of the Interior, which office he filled ...

... office, with no hint of dishonorable action in the many cases in which he was called upon to make important decisions, often involving large sums of money.

It was while he was first acting as village president that he did his part in organizing the Woodstock Rifles and in recruiting man for service in the war. The story of his service in the battle of Pea Ridge, as related in County history, should cause a thorough pride in the hearts of those who succeeded him in life's battles, for he was every inch a soldier. Other prominent members of that famous military organization, some as leaders, were William H. Stewart, O.S. Johnson, Ira Slocum, Alvin Bunker, John S. Medlar and many others who were for years familiar figures in the life of the city, citizens whose names are honored in the archives of the County. He never boasted of his military prowess, but for his service in the war he was complemented by General Sigel and a resolution recommending his promotion was forwarded to Richard Yates the War Governor whose record was such a brilliant and noteworthy one among the War Governor's of the nation.

While a member of the Legislature Mr. Joslyn's peers looked upon him as a master in debate became one of the most influential and conspicuous members of the state Senate during his term of service. A biographer of the service says: "he was aggressive, irrepressible - the facetious, ironical, vigilant ' watchdog of the Senate' on the Republican side. Nothing of the dangerous or doubtful character in the way of legislation escaped his unfailing vigilance or his brilliant humor and withering sarcasm by way of condemnation."

Contemporaneous newspapers commented liberally regarding the part he took in advocating many reforms of abuses that had grown up among politicians of those momentous days and the statutes of the state contain measures that he had a large part in passing. He was described at this period of his life as follows: "in appearance Senator Joslyn is a little above the medium height, portly and commanding, with dark hair and complexion and full dark whiskers." These visual adornments he carried up to the day of his death, marking him as a man of distinction in the community.

As assistant Secretary of the Interior, Mr. Joslyn had the reputation of having mastered the details of a great department of government quicker than any other man of record. In that capacity he proved himself a steadfast friend of the Union Veterans and many of his decisions regarding their rights brought great satisfaction to his beneficiaries. One of his commentators said: "to acting Secretary Joslyn belongs the honor of having broken through the shallow crust of artifice and brought to the surface the vital elements of equity and Justice in the pension law, as it stands today; and our ex-soldiers, we are sure, will not be lacking in the respect and gratitude which should be meted out to him." President Arthur said: "very soon after he came into the department he had the responsibility of the whole thing thrust upon him by Secretary Teller's absence from the city, and he was able to manage things, without depending entirely for his judgment as well as his information, upon the clerks and bureau chiefs."

While mayor of Woodstock the fearless and courageous character ...

Among attorneys who had been associated with lawyer Joslyn in his practice, one of the first was James H. Slavin, and the firm of Joslyn & Slavin became noted throughout the district and state. At later dates Charles P. Barnes and James F. Casey were his partners, and the testimony is that Judge Joslyn's kindness and consideration for the young lawyers was greatly acknowledged by all who came into this close relationship with him.

A personal experience with this popular and well-known attorney illustrates the kindness and the sense of honor of the man. The representative of a local newspaper called upon him at his office during the last days of the year and presented his bill for subscription and professional card, and in his blunt manner he informed the young man that he desired the subscription stopped and the card discontinued. Knowing that there was no argument to be offered, the representative excepted pay for past services and departed considerably downhearted. The following day a telephone message requested the young man to call at the office and, upon appearing therein, Mr. Joslyn remarked: "Young man, I used you rather gruffly yesterday for which I am sorry. I was suffering physical pain and did not mean what I said. Keep on sending the paper and reinstate the card. Forgive me for my impetuosity." And that cleared up a problem that had confused the young man's mind and augmented his opinion of the character of the man proving that it takes a big man to acknowledge a fault and make quick reparation, as in this case.

The last few years of "Judge" Joslyn's life (he was familiarly known as "Judge") he abstained from active practice but he never ceased to give his advice and counsel to other members of the bar who were his contemporaries, and on the occasion of his death the young man above referenced to, becoming his biographer, headed his death notice with the truthful statement, "He was an honest man" and paid tribute to his memory and character that was well earned by his honest, active, intelligent, straightforward and fearless record during the more than 50 years that he practiced his profession and during which he served the public in the capacities above mentioned with a zeal and faithfulness and ardor that did credit to his ancestry and brought fame and honor to the community which had been his home since early childhood.

In the obituary which this writer wrote at that time (1904) these words were printed: "Dying as he had lived, devoid of shame and hypocrisy and with an unfounded faith in the justice of a supreme intelligence, Merritt L. Joslyn, pioneer and veteran lawyer and statesmen, passed away at his residence on West Jackson Street on October 13th, aged 79 years, one month and three days. Everybody knew the deceased as "Judge" and he was the last of the old school of lawyers whose works and deeds made life and property secure in Northern Illinois for without the names of Joslyn, Salvin, Church, Herr, Murphey, Parrish, and several others the history of McHenry County could not be correctly written."

In this connection it is appropriate to mention the wife of this distinguished citizen, lawyer and public servant, which brings to mind the beautiful and queenly woman who was his life partner and the inspiration for his prestige among his fellow man, for verily Mary Robinson Joslyn was a queen among women. Born in Pawlet, Vermont, Mary Robinson received her excellent education in a celebrated school for young women in that state. Here she laid...

... Judge O. H. Gilmore and many others, for there were about 100 members of the society, all bond together for library improvement and rare social enjoyment. The musical and literary aspirations of the people were stimulated and developed by this society and Mary R. Joslyn's influence therein was most benign and helpful. She was also one of the organizers of the Chautauqua circle of Woodstock where her generous personality was an inspiration and a joy to all. Her work in the Congregational Sunday School is still remembered by those who in their earlier years came under her salutary influence, and she was also active in the WCTU. The last years of her life were spent in Santa Monica, California where she enjoyed the benefits of a milder climate than that of Northern Illinois. She loved to indulge in the beauties of rhyme and some of her productions in that line are treasured among the archives of the family and by some of her friends ----"Violets," "The Seasons" and "The Robin that Sang in the Rain" being among the choicest gems from her facile pen. She was the mother of four children, two beautiful daughters - Julia Catherine and Katie Maria - expiring in their babyhood, and the two sons, whose records will be treated later, were David Robinson Joslyn and Marcellus L. Joslyn.

The memory of the writer goes back to the days of 1886 and succeeding years, when many kindnesses were extended to him after he entered upon the married state and brought his bride to Woodstock to make her home, and Mrs. Joslyn opened her home and her heart with true generosity and kindness in a way that can never be forgotten.

David R. Joslyn , eldest son of Merritt L. and Mary Robinson Joslyn, who drifted out of life so painlessly on the 30th of January, 1937, while he was visiting with his son in a Chicago hospital, was born in Woodstock September 1, 1866 and his 70 years of life were marked by great activity and many generous deeds towards his fellow man. He received his early education in the public schools of Woodstock, including the High School and a fitting school for college at Wisconsin State University at Madison. Fortunate indeed was young Joslyn in the ancestry that was his and in the cultured and refined home where he passed his early years surrounded by every comfort, with choice literature and books at his finger's end. He left school when 14 years of age and went to engage in farm work for four years in Kansas, later engaging in farming for himself on a farm near Nunda that was owned by his grandfather, David W. Robinson, remaining there four years, he attended school in Madison, Wisconsin, and later graduated in law from Northwestern University Law School at Evanston, Illinois, from which he graduated in 1892, meanwhile reading law in the office of Judge C. C. Kohlsaat, later a Judge of the United States District Court in Chicago, and was then admitted to the bar of which his father was so distinguished a member. On July 14, 1892, he married Mary Brownell, who for more than 40 years was his faithful, devoted wife and who still resides in the domicile on Jackson Street that was for years the residence of his Grandfather Robinson.

Following their marriage he purchased a farm of 180 acres in Hebron township, where he and his wife resided for four years, after which they moved to Chicago where he entered into a partnership with his brother Marcellus L., then a recent graduate from Harvard Law School, and they did a thriving probate business until 1893 when the partnership was dissolved. David R. returning ...

... his persuasiveness before juries was so noteworthy that many people make it a point to appear in the court house when they knew that he was to represent a client on either side of a case. He acted as counsel in many noted cases and his success was phenomenal in most cases where his clients were the winners of verdicts or judgements.

Mr. Joslyn's temperament was such that he never pandered for applause in any cause, and he was blunt and outspoken in his convictions, often, perhaps to his own detriment. Himself never averse to labor, his sympathies were with those who toiled, as was illustrated in the case of the employees of a local factory who had been locked out because of their union affiliations, in which case he handled the matter in a masterly manner. "Ted" Joslyn, as he was familiarly known, was a firm believer in the saying that " a laborer is worthy of his hire" and with him, as with his forbears, and the other members of the family, no one ever had to approach him the second time if he owed a bill - no merchant or laborer ever had to wait an hour after doing service of selling goods to a Joslyn of the family being considered. "Ted" was no "sponger"- he believed in paying his way wherever he went and his generosity to those in the need or distress or to those who did him a favor, was bounteous and noteworthy. On several occasions the writer had reason to realize this fact in an impressive way.

On the occassion of the writer's visit to Woodstock in the fall of 1936 this good friend conveyed him to a convenient resort in order that he might talk over the events of the past while enjoying a dinner never to be forgotten, and as he left the writer at his stopping place Mr. Joslyn expressed the belief that his days are numbered and that he must soon "shuffle off this mortal soil" but there was no timidity nor sense of fear in evidence, for the Joslyn courage, even in the face of impending dissolution was unshakable, and as he expressed the wish that this writer might return to his former place of labor in his native city, there was a tremor in his voice and handshake that bespoke the sincerity of his wish.

David R. Joslyn was a pioneer among those who greeted the advent of the automobile as a means of transportation, having been among the first to procure a car and as long as he drove his own car, or even when he hired chauffeur, never passed a pilgrim on the highways without giving him a ride or offering him a ride, again illustrating the Joslyn liberality and kindness of heart - that helpful spirit so symbolical of the family for more than a century of its history in McHenry County.

As another writer has so fittingly said: "although bred in a home of wealth and refinement, at an early age he donned the workman's clothes to become a common farmer. He was thus inured to a life of toil and learned to endure the fatigue of following the plow in the heat of the summer sun. Here he learned to know what labor really is, his long hours of toil, his patient endurance, his narrow and uninviting environments, firmly fixed by a pitiful pittance called wages. And so "Ted" Joslyn could never be justly accused of laziness. On the contrary, he was indefatigable in his labor, whether on the ...

During the World War Mr. Joslyn's efforts in behalf cause were of such an estimable value that a writer in a local newspaper paid him a tribute in 1918 that he deserves to be preserved in this tribute to his life, the reading of which while he was confined in the hospital during his last illness brought to him great pleasure and satisfaction. This tribute was as follows:

"When, in the midst of world chaos, the United States plunged into war with Germany, all over this great country men and women spring up as one mighty army, ready to sacrifice business and all private ambitions to devote their energies to their country in her hour of peril.

In Woodstock, among those in the 'home trenches,' one man stands out above all others. Having passed the age when men don the khaki and shoulder the gun, the yearning for service was nonetheless strong in his heart - and he looked about him and he found his work. And from that day to this it has been his every thought, the essence of his being.

Even the profession for which he gave the best years of his life to train, and in which in this community he has no peer, became a secondary thought. Politics, in which his ready wit and quick satire found ample play, has been relegated to the debris pile of transient things that crumble and turn to dust.

In apportioning great talents among men, God gave to David R. Joslyn the power of oratory, not a mediocre gift, but one of extraordinary proportions, the ability to express his innermost thought in words that grip men's hearts like fingers of steel.

Again and again he has stood before the people of Woodstock and McHenry County, calling them to the great task before them, be it liberty loan, Red Cross or kindred duty. Always, until last Sunday, by pure force of circumstance he dealt with generalities, he spoke for the multitude. Last Sunday he faced the newer task.

With the picture of his own bright-face lad, his only remaining son, graven on his heart - a khaki-clad figure standing at attention under the war-darken skies of France - with the poignant memory of his own personal loss ever present to give him understanding of the grief in the hearts of those to whom he spoke, he addressed the father, mother, the brothers and sisters of Ralph Parks Wells in words of such exquisite tenderness that to those bereaved ones they must forever remain a grateful memory. Then, lifting his hand in benediction, he said, 'I pray that the spirit of Ralph Parks Wells may find peace and happiness forever with his Captain.' May we not believe that the Listening Father heard and blessed his prayer?

David R. Joslyn has dedicated his God-given talent to the noblest purpose of all time. And it matters not that he has passed the age when men don the khaki and shoulder the gun, he, too, is a soldier of the same great Army, a patriot among the nation's defenders."

David R. Joslyn's eloquence, his money, his great ability, all were devoted to the cause of human liberty and national uprightness, and if there were no other qualities that endeared him to the public, his service in this ...

... for which he was equipped long before he was entitled to the same under the law.

When the United States declared war against Germany he, like all patriots, offered his young life in defense of the flag he loved and journeyed with his comrades for service under foreign skies, where he did patriotic service in behalf of saving the world from German ascendancy. After his return and discharge from service he resumed his law practice and has since been one of the busiest lawyers of the county. From 1921 to 1927 he officiated as attorney for the city of Woodstock, where he made a record that indicated that he was to be a "comer" in the legal ranks of county. Most of his practice since his admission to the bar has been in the courts of the local county and district, although he has been admitted to practice in the United States District Court in Chicago and has served in other important capacities by appointment from the Judges of the Circuit Court of his home county, rendering service that has convinced his friends that he is the worthy successor of the three generations of Joslyns who preceded him in the practice of law in this county.

Mr. Joslyn is what may properly be termed "a born lawyer" having many of the characteristics that made unique the records of his father, grandfather and great-grandfather. Since the recent death of his father, he remains the lone local representative of the family whose records dignify and adorn the history of the family in McHenry County, in the state and in the nation.

Ever since he reached manhood's estate, David R. Joslyn, Jr. has taken an active part in the affairs of his home community, and while he is blessed with a distinguished ancestry, of which he may well be proud, he undoubtedly keenly feels the necessity of carrying on in a manner that shall cast no shadow on the records of those preceding him who well served their generations and passed on, weighted with honors worthily attained, whose memories are enshrined in the history of the past, as noted above.

David R. Joslyn, Jr. has been blessed with a high mark at which to aim in his future practice of the law "on his native heath" and it remains for him to prove his marksmanship by the course he pursues as he contemplates the future and endeavors to do credit to himself and so worthy an ancestry.