GILDEROY SETTLES, one of the largest landowners in Schuyler county and a man of great force and integrity of character, is the subject of the following biography. It is fitting that the history of such men be preserved to the coming generations, that they may have some idea of the vicissitudes and privations and trials which beset the path of those sturdy pioneers which prepared the way for the onward march of progress. To this worthy band belongs Gilderoy Settles, who was born in Fulton county, Illinois, November 14, 1837; one of seven children: Polly Ann, Gilderoy, David J., Serena, Penina, Nancy and Josiah. His father, William Settles, was a native of Tennessee, and emigrated from that State to Illinois, becoming a pioneer of Fulton county; there he was united in marriage to Peggy Carlock, a daughter of Abraham and Mary A. Carlock; he spent more than fifty years in Fulton county, but died in Morgan county, Illinois; his wife died in Fulton county; their son Gilderoy was reared to the occupation of a farmer, and remained under the parental roof and guidance until he was twenty years of age; he then began to face the world laying the foundation of the fortune which has since attended his path. He rented land, as he had no capital to invest, and managed in this way until 1859, when he made his first purchase of eighty acres, at $10 per acre; there was a log cabin on the place, and this was the extent of the improvements, but it was truly a home, the first he could call his own.

Mr. Settles was occupying this quiet little place, when in March, 1865, he enlisted in Company I, Third Illinois Cavalry; he joined the regiment at Springfield, and did garrison duty until October of the same year; he was then honorably discharged, returned to his home, and resumed the pursuit of agriculture. The following year he bought another farm in the same township, and afterward sold the farm he had first purchased; he resided in Browning township until 1871, and then removed to land he had bought in Frederick township; this was his home until 1884 when he bought the farm on which he now lives; this tract consists of 204 acres in an advanced state of cultivation and improved with excellent buildings; besides this Mr. Settles owns another farm of 200 acres in the same township, 120 acres in Oakland township, and 160 acres in Clark county, Kansas.

In 1857 he was united in marriage to Miss Penina Tracy, who was born in Fulton county, May 24, 1835, one of the eight children of her parents: Perry, Leonard R., Mary A., Thomas C., Penina A., Minerva, Arminda and Cynthia A. Her father, Lyman Tracy, was born in the State of New York, and came to Illinois when a young man; he was one of the early settlers of Fulton county, lived there a few years, and then removed to Missouri; at the end of seven years he came to Schuyler county, and settled in Browning township where he passed the remainder of his days; his wife, Annie Carlock, died on the farm in Browning township. Mr. and Mrs. Settles are the parents of six children: Leander, Florentine, Logan, Doran, Charles and Orpha. Politically Mr. Settles affiliates with the Republican party.