George
Dana Ladd, one of Peru's most honored and distinguished citizens, and for
more than two score years connected with numerous local industries and
enterprises of this place, came from fine old Puritan stock, and was the
embodiment of many of the best traits of that hardy, brave, God-fearing race
who nobly withstood the hardships, dangers and privations of bleak New
England.
On the 24th of March, 1633, as the old records show, one Daniel Ladd
sailed for America from England; and in the archives of Ipswich may be seen
a deed executed to this worthy man entitling him to six acres of ground.
Later he was one of the founders of Salisbury and Haverhill, Massachusetts,
his death occurring in the town last mentioned, July 27, 1693. He had eight
children, of whom the sixth, Nathaniel, had seven children. The eldest was
Nathaniel, and his third son, Edward, married Catherine Thing. That worthy
couple had a son, Edward, and a son who received his mother's maiden name.
Thing. Thing Ladd was the father of fourteen children, of whom Edward, the
ninth, married Sophia Gookin.
George Dana Ladd, the fourth child of Edward and Sophia Ladd, was born in
Peacham, Caledonia county, Vermont, June 15, 1833. His father was a thrifty
farmer, influential and highly respected in his community; and the mother,
whose educational advantages had been better than her husband's, was a woman
of exceptional ability. She died February 26, 1849, and soon after that sad
event our subject left home. Joining his brother Leonard, in Cincinnati,
Ohio, they both clerked in a book-store, but within a month after he landed
in that city George D. Ladd found that his services as a nurse were in
requisition, as his brother was stricken with the cholera. Though the young
man survived, they concluded to return to the old Vermont homestead, that
his health might be fully restored.
Agriculture was not well suited to the rather delicate constitution of our
subject in his early manhood; indeed, it was commonly believed that he would
die with consumption sooner or later. Always a great student, he learned
many of his lessons while guiding the plow, and after leaving the district
schools he attended the academy, during the winter seasons, at Danville
Green, and was successfully engaged in teaching for several terms. He then
took up the study of law, was admitted to the bar in 1855, and at once
started west to found a home and embark upon his career. For a brief time he
resided in Racine, Wisconsin, and there formed the acquaintance of Judge
Blanchard, now of Ottawa, whose advice had great weight in inducing him to
locate in Peru. Coming here in 1856, he established an office and soon had
won favorable notice as a lawyer. Naturally he was not fond of legal wars
and litigation, and as the years passed his friends were not surprised that
he gradually dropped out of practice and more and more turned his attention
to his various financial investments and outside interests. He was one of
the prime movers in the incorporation of the Illinois Valley & Northern
Railroad, now a part of the Burlington system, and in its subsequent
construction. His invaluable services in this matter have resulted to the
lasting benefit of Peru, and had he accomplished nothing else for the
welfare of this locality his name would deserve to live in the annals of the
county.
Space could not be reserved to enumerate in full the many enterprises in
which the genius of George D. Ladd found manifestation. During the last
years of his busy life he was prominently connected with the Peru Elevator
Stock Company, and previously he had been active in the organizations of the
Peru Water Works and Electric Light Company, the Peru Water & Gas Pipe
Company and the Illinois & Wisconsin Live-stock Company, besides many others
of lesser note.
In his political convictions. Mr. Ladd was broad minded, and, posting
Iiimself thoroughly upon all the great issues of the day, acted in
accordance with the verdict which his judgment returned. For the most part a
Democrat, he was still so liberal and unbiased by party ties that he voted
for Harrison and McKinley, as a matter of principle, believing that the good
of the country would be best subserved by their election. Never a seeker of
political preferment, upon his own account, he could not disregard the
wishes of his fellow citizens, when, in 1886, they honored him with the
office of mayor of Peru; but at the end of his two-years term he declined
re-election. He was a true friend of the workingmen, and many a deed of
kindly charity and unostentatious assistance did he perform. Quiet and
reserved, he found publicity especially distasteful; but his name and fame
were such that he was not always able to avoid being brought into
prominence.
In early life he identified himself with the Masonic order and the
Presbyterian church. After coming to Peru he joined the Congregational
church, from which he afterward withdrew, owing to the fact that a political
sermon was delivered from the pulpit, - a thing that offended all of his
principles of good taste. In after years he expressed regret to his family
that he had severed his connection with the church, but his action in this
matter was but an expression of his strong individuality and his inherited
belief that church and state should be kept separate, each perfoming its
mission in its proper place. Deeply mourned by the whole community, Mr. Ladd
passed away at his home in this city, in 1898, at the age of sixty-five
years.
The wife of his youth was a Miss Lorinda Laird, of Danville, Vermont, and of
the two daughters born to them Kate, the elder, now the wife of Thomas F.
Bitner, resides in Milwaukee; while the younger, Lora, died when but six
years old. Some time subsequent to the death of his first wife, Mr. Ladd
wedded Mrs. Louise Banks, who died without children. In 1875 the marriage of
Mr. Ladd and Miss Christina Murray was solemnized. Mrs. Ladd, who survives
her husband, is a native of Peru, where her father was a prominent merchant
for years, and was one of the early settlers. Both of the parents of Mrs.
Ladd, Andrew and Bessie Belle (Buchanan) Murray were natives of Scotland,
and they are now residents of St. Louis. The eldest son of our subject and
wife, George Dana, is now employed in the ore department of the Illinois
Zinc Company and stationed at Joplin, Missouri; Frank Fenton, the second
son, is with the same company; and the younger sons are Andrew Murray and
Lester L.
Extracted by Norma Hass from Biographical and Genealogical Record of LaSalle County, Illinois published in 1900, volume 1, pages 300-302.
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