E. H. AKIN, dealer in real estate, Joliet; was born in Johnstown, Fulton Co., N.Y., July 3, 1815; at the age of 17, he went to Onondaga Co., and in 1847, to Berrien Co., Mich.; followed the mercantile business there one year; removing thence to Chicago; in 1849, he came to Lockport, and shortly afterward went to California, where he followed mining until 1851; returning, he engaged in farming near Lockport, and , in 1854, removed to Joliet; here he followed his trade of cooper, for a short time, and then engaged in manufaccturing staves, which he continued until 1860; in 1861, he removed to Hennepin, Putnam Co., Ill., where he engaged in flour manufacturing and dealing in grain, which he shipped to Chicago and St. Louis. He did a very successful business during the war, and , in 1867, returned to Joliet, since which time he has been engaged in the grain trade, woolen manufacturing and real estate transactions. In 1872 he laid out Akin’s Addition to Joliet, comprising forty acres, lying near the Fair Grounds, and accessible to business by the street railway; most of these lots have since been sold and imporved. He also owns condsider other property in different parts of the city; in 1877, he built the Akin Building on Jefferson Street. He is a Director of Oakwood Cemetery, and one of the originators and a Director of the People’s Loan and Homestead Association, which was organized in 1874. He was married June 10, 1840, to Miss Sophronia C. MERRILL, of Cortland Co., N.Y., and has four children–Charlotte C., Libraran of the Joliet Public Library; Lucy H., John J., a banker in Roodhouse, Ill., and Edward C., a law student in Joliet.
Source: History of Will County, Illinois; Chicago: Wm LeBaron Jr & Co, 186 Dearborn Street, 1878.