HUSBAND..(full name ): LOOP, James L. BORN.....(date/place): MAY 1815 ______, Steuben, NY CHR......(date/place): MAR......(date/place): 6 AUG 1835 Almond, Allegany, NY DIED.....(date/place): 8 FEB 1865 Rockford, Winnebago, IL BUR......(date/place): 10 FEB 1865 Belvidere, Boone, IL HUSBAND'S FATHER.....: LOOP, Peter Jr. Compiled by: HUSBAND'S MOTHER.....: BIRNEY, Sarah Victor L. Bennison HUSBAND'S OTHER WIVES: 2 Georgetown Drive ---------------------------------------------------------- Amherst, NH 03031 WIFE.....(full name ): STEVENS, Permelia (or Pamelia or Pamela) BORN.....(date/place): about 1818 NY CHR......(date/place): DIED.....(date/place): after 1878 BUR......(date/place): WIFE'S FATHER........: WIFE'S MOTHER........: WIFE'S OTHER HUSBANDS: FILE: CHPEPEJA.FGSV ----+-------------------------+---------------+--------------------------------+ # / | CHILDREN | WHEN | WHERE OR TO WHOM | SEX | surname / given names | | town, county, state or country | ----+-------------------------+---------------+--------------------------------| 1. | LOOP, Mathew M. |b. about 1840 | IL | M | |m. | | | |d. 1876-1878 | | ----+-------------------------+---------------+--------------------------------+ 2. | LOOP, Franklin |b. about 1846 | IL | M | |m. | | | |d. prob. d.y. | | ----+-------------------------+---------------+--------------------------------+ 3. | LOOP, Elizabeth |b. about 1849 | IL | F | |m. | | | |d. | | ----+-------------------------+---------------+--------------------------------+ 4. | |b. | | | |m. | | | |d. | | ----+-------------------------+---------------+--------------------------------+ NOTES: 1850 Census of Belvidere Village, Boone County, IL: 25/33 Loop, James L. age 35 Lawyer born NY Pamelia S. age 32 born NY Mathew M. age 10 born IL Franklin age 4 born IL Elizabeth age 1 born IL 1860 Census of Rockford, Winnebago, IL: Loop, James L. age 45 born NY Pamela age 42 born NY Mathew age 19 born IL Elizabeth age 11 born IL Mansfield, Mary (servant) age 22 born Ireland From "10,000 Vital Records of Western New York", by Fred Q. Bowman, 1985: 5412 Loop, James L. of Avoca m. 8/6/35 Permelia Stevens of Almond in A [i.e., in Almond] (2-8/12) [i.e., Steuben Farmers Advocate or 12 AUG 1835] From The Rockford Democrat, 9 FEB 1865: Death of James L. Loop - Yesterday morning about nine o'clock, our well- known and gifted fellow-citizen, James L. Loop, died at his residence in the city, after an illness of several months. ... No man in his early history ever gave brighter promise of eminence and public usefulness than Mr. Loop. We do not know of any citizen of Illinois, possessed of greater natural ability, mental vigor, range of talent and power of oratory, than the subject of this notice. His understanding of law was an intuition; and we have heard it stated that in his management of cases as a lawyer, he relied less upon researches into his library than upon his own natural mental perception and genius, and these but seldom failed him. He was genial, liberal and sociable to a fault. And with all his natural ability and elements of popularity, it is not too much to say that if his ambition and efforts had sufficiently ruled his action, no position in the State or perhaps national politics would have been beyond his reach. James L. Loop was born in Steuben County, New York, in 1815, and removed to our neighboring city of Belvidere in 1838. He was prosecuting attorney for the Northern District of Illinois in 1843-4-5. From 1846 to 1850, he was Secretary of the Illinois and Michigan Canal which office he resigned. In 1852 he came to Rockford, since which time he has practiced law. He was Mayor of the city for one term, and has always taken a prominent interest in public affairs. He went to Memphis in 1862 and transacted business there at intervals until April last, when his failing health compelled him to return home. Since last October he has been confined to his house, gradually failing, until yesterday morning his eyes closed forever upon of the natural world. An immense number of citizens and friends will sympathize with his amiable family in their bereave- ment. As a husband and father he was affectionate, tender and indulgent in the extreme. His funeral will take place from his residence tomorrow morning at 6,30 A.M., from whence his body will be conveyed to Belvidere for interment. From "Political Profiles: a History of the Mayors of Rockford, 1852 - 1977", by Phillip Jaret, 1976, Rockford, IL: James L. Loop was inaugurated Mayor of Rockford on April 29, 1856 at the age of forty-one. He became the fifth mayor of the city as well as the fifth mayor to serve a single one-year term. Loop defeated former mayor Wiliam Wheeler in his comeback bid, collecting 54.1% of the vote to Wheeler's 45.8%. Of 807 votes cast, Loop received 433, Wheeler 367. Mayor Loop's inauguration was attended by approximately 250 guests at Rockford's newest hotel, the Holland House, considered by many to be the finest in town. To the sound of a saxaphone horn band and food for all, speeches were given, including Mayor Loop's inaugural address. James L. Loop was born in Steuben county, New York in May, 1815. He settled in Belvidere in 1838, and some years later formed a law partnership there with his brother-in-law, General Stephen A. Hurlbut. Loop was a well qualified and highly regarded attorney and became the first attorney to hold the office of Mayor of Rockford. He was prosecuting attorney for the northern district of Illinois from 1843 to 1845. Loop was also secretary for the Illinois and Michigan canal from 1846 to 1850, and from 1852 to his election in 1856, he was a law partner of attorney-politician William Lathrop. Loop assumed office at a time when the city was embroiled in a debate over disbanding its police force. The liquor interests argued that police, at two dollars-a-day plus fees for making arrests, were an unnecessary and useless expense. The issue was settled, however, when the Council proclaimed that "a large portion of every well regulated, orderly, and moral community believes it important and necessary to employ sufficient police forces to suppress street disturbances and secure order..." ... Mayor Loop decided to run as a candidate for re-election in 1857. Mr. Loop evidently thought the city affairs had not been administered with absolute perfection during the previous administration, or at least not as well as in his administration, as the following campaign handbill indicates: "TO THE CITIZENS OF ROCKFORD - A year ago our city was in a state of excited agitation, growing out of abuses and wrongs which the citizens had suffered through the Instrumentality of the City Government; and the voters then made use of the Freemans's Weapon, the ballot box, to arrest and restrain misrule. With the most liberal policy which it has been in the power of the Mayor to adopt without a ruffian Police force to deprive the citizens of their cherished rights and liberties, the last year has been one of uninterrupted peace and quiet, which, in contrast with the previous year of brawls, riots and tyranical oppression, gives us renewed confidence in the ability and disposition of our citizens to govern themselves, preserve the peace and maintain the honor of the city. At the coming Charter Election, you have to elect three Aldermen and a Mayor; and in the hope that if elected, I may be able to aid the adoption of a liberal policy, and one which shall operate to the advantage of all classes of our citizens, and promote the prosperity and honor of our city, I have consented to be a candidate for re-election to the office of Mayor. James L. Loop Rockford, April 16th, 1857." The voters of Rockford did not quite agree, as Mayor Loop was defeated for re-election by William Brown by a 450 vote plurality. The Register Gazette described James Loop as "one of the most brilliant barristers of his time, always genial, with a remarkably keen sense of justice." [Register-Gazette, 4 April 1907] "By the common consent of the Rockford bar, James L. Loop possessed the finest legal ability of any man who had ever practiced in this city." Such was the recognition given the city's fifth mayor following his death, February 8, 1865, at the age of fifty. Civil War pension application index, National Archives: Matt M. Loop, mother Pamelia Loop, Co D 11 Ill Inf 25 SEP 1876 Invalid appl: 225931; cert: 143653 2 MAR 1878 Mother's appl: 235761; cert: 182252