Will County ILGenWeb Biographies..... 
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File contributed for use by:
Dori Leekly & Margie Glenn

Author: History of Will County IL, 1878

Wallace B. CASWELL, proprietor St. Nicholas Hotel, Joliet; was born in Orleans Co., 
N. Y., in 1831; his father was a farmer of moderate circumstances, possessing a small 
piece of land which he tilled with his own hands; he recognized the value of an 
education and made every effort to secure for his children that mental culture which 
is imperishable; but Wallace was not a studious youth; the glorious fun of fishing, 
hunting, "I spy," "two-old-cat" and other athletic sports, had for him a far greater 
charm than the problems of his arithmetic, the puzzling intricacies of his grammar, 
the comprehensive knowledge contained within the pasteboard lids of his geography, or 
even the polysyllables of his spelling-book; all told, his schooling amounted to less 
than three years of constant attendance; to this day he acknowledges, that it was his
own fault that not even a common-school education accompanied him when he embarked for 
himself in the struggles of life; it was in the vocation of an apple-peddler that 
pennies first poured into the capacious pockets of his "flap" trousers; with a basket 
well-laden with pippins, greenings, Spitzenbergs, gillyflowers and rusty-coats, 
gathered from his father's orchard, he daily plodded to the village of Albion for 
several years and returned at night jubilant with success, or dejected by failure, 
according as good or ill luck had attended his labors among the fruit-loving denizens 
of the village; in those days (a matter which will be a surprise to the fruit-venders 
of this generation) a, "square meal" could be obtained for 3 cents, and to indulge in 
the extras of the season 5 cents was considered an exorbitant demand; in 1844 his 
father came West, purchased a small farm and grist-mill at Plainfield, nine miles 
northwest of Joliet; from that date till the present, the subject of this sketch has 
been a resident of this State; in 1845, he entered the village store as clerk, owned 
by a Mr. GODDARD, at the munificent salary of $4 per mouth, without board; Mr. G. also 
operated stores in Elgin and St. Charles; he continued with him at intervals, until 
1858, vibrating from one point to another, as occasion and the interests of his employer 
might require; in 1849, he was employed in the dry goods and carpet store of E. W. 
BIGELOW, of Chicago; his positions and employments have been various, and fortune and 
misfortune have not been strangers to him. He was married in 1854, to Esther J. EURN, 
of Plainfield. At one time we find him a prosperous businessman, amassing wealth 
rapidly; again we see him penniless, with a great debt upon his shoulders; at the 
breaking-out of the war, he was doing a thriving grocery trade in Joliet. He entered 
the army as sutler, and, at first, money "rolled in by the bushel," and indicated 
that his fortune was made; but these were uncertain days; when about thirty-five miles 
south of Louisville, on his way to Bardstown, John MORGAN, the daring, dashing 
cavalryman of Southern fame, despoiled his train of six loads of sutler's goods, 
"cabbaged " his horses and left him with a whole skin, but not money enough to get 
back to Joliet; again he replenished his stock and the same result followed; after 
having once more purchased a full stock, he sold out, took notes in payment, never 
realized a cent from them, and returned to Joliet as poor as he was five years before. 
In 1864 he began operating the old National Hotel on the west side of the city; here 
he remained almost ten years accumulating money as if by magic; in 1873, he furnished 
the Robertson House at an expense of $20,000; in one year he lost half of the amount 
accumulated in the preceding ten years; he next purchased one-half interest in the 
Galt House, Chicago, and in one year shelved the balance; he opened the St. Nicholas 
as a hotel June 17, 1875.


Additional Comments:
HISTORY OF WILL COUNTY, ILLINOIS; Chicago: Wm LeBaron Jr & Co, 186 Dearborn Street, 1878.