EDWARD S. GOOCH, possessing the ambitious spirit and undaunted energy without which there is no success, is now successfully practicing medicine in Carrollton, where he has been located since 1896. He was born in Montgomery county, Missouri, on the 1st of December, 1869, his parents being Munroe M. and Mary (Tipton) Gooch, who were also natives of that county. The paternal grandfather, William Gooch, was a native of Kentucky and the family was founded here at a very early day, the progenitor in America landing at New York when this country was still one of the colonial possessions of Great Britain. The great-grandfather served in the Revolutionary war, fighting for the independence of the nation. William Gooch removed from Kentucky to Missouri, where he spent his remaining days. During the progress of the war of the Rebellion he went out hunting one day and was killed by bushwhackers, his remains not being found for some time. He was a farmer by occupation and through his agricultural pursuits provided for his family, numbering thirteen children.

Munroe W. Gooch, reared and educated in Missouri, also followed the occupation of farming, and is now living in Audrain county, Missouri, being numbered among the successful agriculturists and representative men of that locality. Unto him and his wife were born five children, of whom Dr. Gooch is the eldest. His only brother is a practicing physician of Lawton, Oklahoma.

At the usual age Dr. Gooch entered the public schools near his father's farm and completed his education in the State Normal School, at Kirksville, Missouri. His study there, however, was not continuous, for at intervals he engaged in teaching. When his literary course was completed he entered upon the study of Medicine in the Hospital College of Medicine, in Louisville, Kentucky, where he pursued the regular course and was graduated with honors, being valedictorian of the class of 1896. He completed the course in June and in October of the same year he came to Carrollton and opened an office in the Hodges building, where he has since been located, enjoying a constantly increasing patronage. He has a fine practice, among the best class of citizens, and ranks high as a physician and surgeon, his careful training and devotion to his chosen calling enabling him to leave the ranks of the many to stand among the more successful few. He belongs to the Greene County Medical Society, the Northwestern Medical Society and the Illinois State Medical Society, and through the interchange of thought and experiences he has added to his knowledge and thereby increased his efficiency in practice.

On the 24th of May, 1903, Dr. Gooch was united in marriage to Miss Tempest Johnstone, a native of Kentucky. Dr. Gooch belongs to the Masonic fraternity and in his life has many times exemplified the beneficent, helpful spirit of the craft. He is a man of broad sympathy, which supplementing his strong intellectual force and careful preparation for his profession, has made him a skilled physician, commanding a practice of large proportions in his adopted city.