HORACE G. DRURY

HORACE GREELEY DRURY is the popular and energetic President of the village of Wilmette, and has taken a leading interest in the improvement and beautification of that growing suburb.  He is a native son of Illinois, born at Gage’s Lake, Lake County, November 22, 1847, and is a son of George A. and Mary E. Drury, further notice of whom—together with an extended genealogy of the family—may be found upon other pages of this volume.  He attended the common schools of his native county until seventeen years old, varying this with the labors which commonly fall to rural lads in a new country, and then came to Chicago, where he served a four-years apprenticeship with Edward Ballard, one of the leading building contractors of the city.

He continued in the employ of Mr. Ballard about eight years in all, and during that period superintended the construction of some of the finest residences in the city up to that date.  In 1873 he went to Wilmette, where he built a number of the best residences.  Two years later he engaged in the preparation and examination of abstracts, becoming a member of the firm of Carne & Drury.  In 1886 this firm was dissolved and the firm of Drury Brothers was formed.   They continue the same line of business, in connection with a general real-estate business, handling Wilmette and other North Shore property.

Mr. Drury has been a Republican in political principle since boyhood, and takes an active interest in the promulgation of the theories of that party, because he believes them indispensable to good government.  He is a close observer, an intelligent thinker, of sound judgment, and bears his share of the labors necessary to the welfare of any organized community.  For nine years he was a School Director of Wilmette, and served as Trustee of that village in 1892 and 1893, during which time a complete system of water works and sewerage was established throughout the village, at a cost of nearly $400,000.  In the spring of 1895 he was elected President of the village, and gives the same industry and business acumen to the administration of its affairs that characterizes the conduct of his private business.  He is a member of the Congregational Church, and of the Royal Arcanum, having served as Regent of Wilmette Council of that order for one year.

Mr. Drury was married November 22, 1870, to Miss Jeannette Stickney, daughter of George W. and Sylvia (Beckley) Stickney, of Nunda, McHenry County, Illinois.  Mr. Stickney was the first white settler in that locality, and lived on the most amicable terms with his aboriginal neighbors, before white men came to settle about him, where now flourishes one of the finest agricultural communities of progressive citizens in Illinois.  Five children were given to Mr. and Mrs. Drury, namely: Lillian M.; George E., who is in business at Denver, Colorado; Clarence H., Marion A. and Florence E.

Mr. Drury is a progressive and reliable gentleman and business man, and encourages every worthy public enterprise.  The family is held in high regard by their associates, and enjoys the best of social connections.

                                -- Submitted on March 26, 2000 by Sherri Hessick ( [email protected] )