Goodspeed biographies filename G.txt contributed by Mary Collins USGENWEB ARCHIVES NOTICE: These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by any other organization or persons. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material, must obtain the written consent of the contributor, or the legal representative of the submitter, and contact the listed USGenWeb archivist with proof of this consent. The submitter has given permission to the USGenWeb Archives to store the file permanently for free access. *************************************************************************** JAMES GARETSON, one of the old merchants of Butler County, comes from a prominent pioneer family of Illinois. His grandfather Garetson was a member of the first Legislature of that State, and others of the family held prominent positions. His father, John Garetson, was born in Illinois, in 1800, and the Indians were not an uncommon sight to his boyish eyes. He grew up to be an enterprising farmer, and also conducted a cooper-shop, and ran a cotton-gin. At one time he served as colonel of the Fifth Illinois Militia. His wife, Catherine Lemen, who was seven years his junior, was also a native of Illinois, and bore him a son and daughter. After his death, in 1829, she married again. James L. was born in Monroe County, Ill., in March, 1826, and grew up with the meager educational advantages found in primitive Illinois, hearing that there was a thing called a pronoun, and, with a bundle on his back, conning what little he could gather from his geography. In his twelfth year he began living with an uncle, and when the Mexican War broke out he joined the Second Illinois Infantry, and served a year, acting as fourth corporal all of that time. His next venture was in shipping cord-wood to St. Louis, then engaging in milling and merchandising, which, at the end of seven years, proved so disastrous as to sink for him and others, $30,000. He next opened an unpretentious peanut stand, and finally prospered in farming and hotel-keeping, until he was able to cancel all his indebtedness. In 1862 he enlisted in Company G, Sixty-second Illinois Infantry, as captain, and after two and one-half years was honorably discharged at Little Rock. The peanut stand again served him a good turn after the war, and in this connection he was postmaster at Odin, Ill., for ten years. He soon changed peanuts for the news business. In 1868 he was elected assessor and treasurer of Marion County, Ill.—a Republican in a Democratic county. He served two years, and then, with assets and liabilities about equal, he came to Butler County, in 1870, and began farming, which he carried on, exclusively, three years. In 1873 he opened a store at Harveill, Butler County, where he was also station agent for about six years, but in 1887 he moved his stock to Poplar Bluff, when his youngest son, Robert L., became a partner. He now owns a large stock and a good farm. Sarah A. Harlow, a native of Monroe County, Ill., became his wife in 1847, and has borne him twelve children, eight of whom are now living. She is a Missionary Baptist, of which church he has been a member forty-two years. He is a Republican, and a member of the A.F. & A.M. and G.A.R. orders. Pages 1073-1074. CHARLES GIESE, the oldest merchant tailor of Poplar Bluff, was born in Baden, Germany, March 28, 1861, and is the son of Christ and Kate Giese, both natives of Baden. The father was a mechanic in his native country, and remained there until 1874, when he and family came to America, locating at St. Louis, where the mother still lives. The father died in 1882. The family consisted of four children, all sons, the eldest being our subject. He was educated in the old country, but since coming to America has become quite conversant with the English language. At the age of fourteen years he began learning the tailor’s trade, and served an apprenticeship of three years. After working for others until 1882, he came to Poplar Bluff, where he opened a shop and employed one man. Since then he has increased his business until he works seven men, and is doing well. In 1882 he married Miss Jennie Cole, who was born in St. Francois County. The result of this union was the birth of two children—a son and daughter. Mr. Giese is a Democrat in politics, is a member of the K. of P., also the A.O.U.W., and he and wife are members of the Presbyterian Church. Although commencing with very small capital, Mr. Giese has become one of the leading tailors of Poplar Bluff. Page 1074. DR. EDMUND GLASS, a Methodist minister, physician and surgeon, also a farmer, was born in Hardin County, Ill., in 1822, and was one of eight children born to Dudley and Jane (Givens) Glass. The father was a native of Georgia, born in 1760, and was married twice, his first wife being Margaret Russell. He soon removed with her people to Kentucky. After his first wife’s death he married Edmund’s mother in West Kentucky. He was one of the pioneers of Pope, now Hardin County, Ill., and was interested in lead mining. He lost his property, and afterward removed to Fayette County, Ill., where he died in 1840. He was a tanner in early life, later a farmer, and was a soldier in the War of 1812 under Jackson. His father, Hiram Glass, was probably born in Dublin, Ireland, and when a boy came with his parents to America, and served through the Revolutionary War. The wife of Dudley Glass and the mother of Dr. Edmund V. Glass, was born in South Carolina, and died in May, 1830. Her parents were both of English descent. They were married in London, and their bridal tour was their trip to America. Their son, John Givens, was a well known Methodist minister of Southern Illinois for many years. Dr. Edmund V. Glass was reared at home, and received limited educational advantages, but made up for this to some extent by self-study and close observation. At the age of fifteen he entered the store of Ebenezer Capp, at Vandalia, Ill., where in 1842 he married Miss Ella Gambill, who died eighteen months afterward, leaving one child (deceased). He was again married in 1844 to Miss Elizabeth E. Biggs, a native of Kentucky, who came with her parents, Elijah and Mary Biggs, to Williamson County, Ill., when a child. One child was born to this union, Joseph W. The second wife died in 1858, and in 1859 Mr. Glass married Mrs. Harriet Lenhart, widow of John Lenhart, and daughter of Nathan Hull. Two children were born to this union, only one now living, Rev. William Thomas, a Methodist minister of the St. Louis conference. The Doctor was engaged in farming and the mill business in Illinois until 1852, when he removed to Butler County, and settled where Neelyville now is, this being the first land purchased in that vicinity. He immediately entered the ministry as an itinerant, having been licensed by the Methodist Episcopal conference in Pope County, Ill;, in 1850, and has since had a successful ministerial career. He was ordained a deacon in 1853, and an elder in 1866. In 1864 he returned to Illinois, and lived there about three years, when he returned to Missouri, and soon after to Newton County, Mo., as a supply minister. Here he remained about five years, preaching the gospel and practicing medicine, etc. Prior to his first return to Missouri he had spent some time studying medicine, which he continued after coming to Missouri. He spent a part of two consecutive years in the McDowell Medical College at St. Louis before the war, and has since had an extensive practice. He keeps along with the times, and has one of the most complete medical libraries in Butler County. The Doctor was formerly a Whig, and his first presidential vote was for Henry Clay in 1844. Since the war he has been a Democrat. He is a member of the Farmers’ Alliance, and has a fine farm of 120 acres. During the war the Doctor went to Arkansas, was made captain of a company, and served a short time in the Confederate army in that capacity. He was afterward assistant surgeon a short time. Upon leaving the army he went to Illinois. Although born in a Northern State the Doctor’s people were of Southern birth, and as he had lived for some years in a Southern State his sympathies naturally went that way, although he was opposed to the war and preferred not to participate. After a great many narrow escapes in eluding the enemy he made his way to Illinois, sent for his family, and remained there until the close of the war. Pages 1074-1075. GEORGE W. GLASS, dealer in timber, bolts, piling, logs, etc. and farmer, of Neelyville Township, was born in Williamson County, Ill., in 1841, and is the fifth of ten children born to George W. and Salina (Phipps) Glass. George W., Sr., was born in Pope County, in 1805, and married in Fayette County, Ill. After living in various places in Illinois, they removed to St. Louis County, where he lived about seven years, engaged in teaming. They came to Butler County in 1851, but in 1859 they settled four miles south of Neelyville, and there the father died, January 17, 1884. He was an industrious, upright citizen, and was a pioneer settler of Butler County. He served a short time in the Confederate army, under Capt. Reeves. He was of Scotch-Irish descent, and, of the nine children born to his marriage, only four are now living: Anna, widow of Robert Suggs; Nancy, wife of John W. Roberts; Missouri, wife of Lewis Maize, and George W. The mother was born, perhaps, in Fayette County, Ill., and died about 1875, aged sixty-three years. She and her husband were members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and were among the esteemed citizens of the county. George W., Jr., received a fair education, and came with his parents to Butler County when about ten years of age, and has witnessed many marvelous changes from that time to the present. Since about eleven years of age he has been crippled, the result of sickness. He has always devoted himself to farming, and for about four years he has been engaged in the lumber business. He owns the old farm of 240 acres, besides 320 acres of timbered land near by, at Hathaway Station. Politically a Democrat, his first presidential vote was for Seymour in 1868. Page 1075. WILLIAM C. GRADDY, pharmacist, at Poplar Bluff, was born in Marshall County, Ky., January 13, 1854. His father, Lewis W. Graddy, was a native of the same county, and it was there that he married Miss Eliza Carpenter, a native of Mississippi. The father was engaged in agriculture up to within two years of his death, when he turned his attention to mercantile pursuits. He died in 1857, at the age of thirty-six, his wife surviving him until 1885, at the age of sixty-one. Of the seven children born to them William is the sixth child. Left fatherless at so early an age, his education was rather limited, and when but nine years of age he began working on a farm for his uncle. He spent some years, also, in a heading and tobacco factory, and at the age of twenty-two began clerking in a general store. In 1879 he came to Poplar Bluff, and, with his brother, opened up a stock of groceries and drugs, and has been engaged in some similar line ever since. Several changes have been made in the firm name, but Mr. Graddy has been the leading spirit, until, in 1887, he became the sole proprietor of what is now one of the best drug houses in the place. This has been acquired, too, from a beginning of about $300 when he became a citizen of Poplar Bluff. He was an active organizer of the Poplar Bluff Loan and Building Association, and now serves as director and treasurer. He was mayor of the city for two years. His political preferences are Democratic, and he is a member of the K. of H. fraternity. In 1881 he married Miss Ella De Lapp, a native of Saginaw County, Mich. One child has been born to them, Grover B. Mr. and Mrs. Grady are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Page 1075. A. HEWITT GREASON, junior member of the firm of Garetson & Greason, dealers in piling, timber and ties, is a native of the Keystone State, born in 1852, in Cumberland County. John Greason was a wide-awake Pennsylvania, engaged in agriculture, and dealing in merchandise and grain. He was married to Margaret Monroe, a native of the same State, and in 1866 they removed to Iron County, Mo., where, besides being a merchant and a farmer, he ran a saw mill. The father and mother lived to be about fifty-six and fifty-four years, respectively. The subject of this sketch was the fifth of a family of eleven children, and was well educated in ordinary schools, and also at Arcadia Seminary. After his school days he devoted himself to agriculture exclusively until 1881. He then came to Poplar Bluff, and opened its first feed store, but soon turn to railroading, and became freight agent for the Iron Mountain Railroad at Poplar Bluff. He soon after became bill clerk and baggage master, and finally was promoted to foreman of the Iron Mountain Railroad stock yards, a position which he held for three and one-half years. He became a partner with Mr. Garetson in 1887, and in this, as in his other enterprises, he has been eminently successful. The firm does an extensive business. Mr. Greason is a Republican, and has served the city as alderman. He is a member of the K. of H., and belongs to the Presbyterian Church. In 1884 Miss Alice Metz, a native of Illinois, became his wife. They have a son and a daughter. Pages 1075-1076.