E. A. ELDRED is one of Greene county's native sons and respected citizens, who in his business career has so directed his energies that he has won prosperity and a good name. His birth occurred upon the Eldred homestead about two and a half miles west of Carrollton on the 11th of July, 1842, his parents being William and Ruth (Brace) Eldred, who are represented on another page of this volume.

E. A. Eldred, the youngest in his father's family of twelve children, acquired a public school education and in his youth remained upon the old home farm, early becoming familiar with the duties and labors that fall to the lot of the agriculturist. When the father died an elder son, L. E. Eldred, took charge of the farm and continued its management until E. A. Eldred attained his majority, when the latter assumed control. His brother is now in Canon City, Colorado. The subject of this review continued on the old homestead, giving his time and energies to its cultivation and improvement and when his brother went to Colorado he purchased his interest. The farm is one of the finest in the county, splendidly improved and comprising six hundred and twenty acres of valuable land. Mr. Eldred continued to engage in agricultural pursuits until 1899, when he removed to Carrollton, where he erected an elegant modern residence, which he now occupies. He then entered into partnership with W. H. Silverling and they carry a large line of hardware, stoves, wagons and harness. They have built up a good business and are numbered among the reliable merchants of the city, whose progressive methods have been factors in promoting the commercial prosperity of Carrollton. On the 4th of February, 1879, occurred the marriage of E. A. Eldred and Martha A. Robertson, a native of Morgan county, Illinois, and a daughter of John Robertson, a banker and farmer of that county. In his political affiliations Mr. Eldred is a Republican and he served as county commissioner for a number of years, proving a capable officer, prompt and faithful in the discharge of his duties. In Masonry he has attained to Royal Arch degree. A worthy representative of one of the most prominent families of Greene county, the name being closely associated with the history of permanent progress and improvement here since 1820, he is, moreover, because of his personal worth, entitled to distinction as one of the leading residents of Carrollton.