The Battle of Fort Fisher, N.C.

Wednesday, December 1, 2021

The Charles Wayne House in Elgin, Illinois-- Part 2

Continued from October 3, 2021.

Charles Wayne was the son of Harley Wayne of Union, Illinois, who was a captain and killed at the Battle of Shiloh.  I have written a lot about Harley and Charles earlier this year.

After Charles and his mother Ellen moved to Elgin, he  entered into a partnership with Attorney  John A. Russell.  Later, that partnership was dissolved and Mr. Wayne entered a partnership with Botsford, Wayne and Botsford..  According to newspaper articles gathered by Charles' wife Mary into scrapbooks, he became a prominent Northern Illinois trial lawyer.

He then entered local politics and soon became mayor of Elgin from 1895-1896.  After that, he declined to run for mayor again and went back to his law practice.

Mary Smith, his wife, was the daughter of Leonidas and Sarah J. Steward Smith and was born in Nashville, Tennessee.  She moved to Elgin with her sister Sarah when their brother Steward received  a position as  a priest at the Episcopal Church in Elgin.

Charles married Mary Carmichael Smith on January 18, 1888.

--Old Secesh


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