Biography - Frank Gilmore
Frank H. GILMORE, Master in Chancery, Litchfield, was born in Greenville, Bond Co., Ill., on January 3, 1833. Here he passed his early youth, except a few years spent in Northern Illinois. His father, James GILMORE, died when he was twelve years old, and two years later, he entered the printing office of the Protestant Monitor, which was the first paper of Greenville, and finished his trade in the office of its successor. In 1851, he came to Hillsboro, Ill., and there started the Prairie Mirror, of which Dr. Francis SPRINGER was editor; he conducted that and other papers as publisher at the same place until 1862, excepting two years. In August, 1862, he enlisted in Company B of the One Hundred and Seventeenth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, and served until the close of the war; at the organization of the company, he was elected Second Lieutenant, and came home its Captain. At Memphis, Tenn., our subject was detached, and was a depot ordnance officer for the Army of Tennessee from Chattanooga to Atlanta; he joined his company, and, just after the battle of Nashville, led his command in the battles attending the capture of Mobile, Ala., and in other engagements, till the close of the war. He returned home, and, in 1866, was elected Sheriff and Collector of Montgomery County, serving one term - at that time the full limit; after those two years, he engaged in the real estate business with John D. MADDUX, at Hillsboro, continuing until 1874, when he came to Litchfield and engaged in the purchase and shipment of grain, the firm name being BALLWEG & GILMORE; he continued at that but one and a half years. In November, 1880, he was appointed, by Judge ZANE, Master in Chancery of this county; he is also Director and Secretary of the Litchfield Oil and Pipe Line Company, and has been since its organization. November 16, 1858, he married Mary S., daughter of Col. Robert BLACKWELL, of Vandalia, Ill.; they have had the following children: Angelina E., James R. and Frank P. (both deceased), Henry E., May V., Sarah E. (deceased) and Mary E. A. He was raised a Whig, but voted for Stephen A. DOUGLAS, since which time he has acted with the Democratic party, being conservative in his views. His father was a native of East Tennessee, and his mother of Virginia; they emigrated here from Hardin County, Ky., about 1828, and settled in Greenville; his father was a carpenter and builder, and died June 13, 1844; his Grandfather GILMORE was for many years Probate Judge of Bond County.
Extracted 19 Nov 2016 by Norma Hass from 1882 History of Bond and Montgomery Counties, Illinois, Part 2 Biographical Department, pages 143-144.
