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Below is a family biography included in The History of Wright County, Missouri published by Goodspeed Publishing Company in 1889.  These biographies are valuable for genealogy research in discovering missing ancestors or filling in the details of a family tree. Family biographies often include far more information than can be found in a census record or obituary.  Details will vary with each biography but will often include the date and place of birth, parent names including mothers' maiden name, name of wife including maiden name, her parents' names, name of children (including spouses if married), former places of residence, occupation details, military service, church and social organization affiliations, and more.  There are often ancestry details included that cannot be found in any other type of genealogical record.

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G. J. Roote is an extensive manufacturer and dealer in railroad lumber at Mansfield, and was born in Waukesha County, Wis., in 1845, being a son of Eleazer and Laura (Jenkins) Roote. The father was born in Columbia County, N. Y., March 6, 1802, and graduated from Williams College, Massachusetts, in 1821, being admitted to the bar of the supreme court of New York three years later. He was then engaged in practicing law until 1830, but was then compelled to go to a warmer climate on account of his health. From that time until 1845 he made his home in Virginia, then moved to Waukesha County, Wis., where he became the chief promoter and founder of Carroll College. In 1847 he was elected a member of the Second Constitutional Convention from his county, and was substantially the author of the present educational article in the constitution for the State of Wisconsin, as well as that providing for and founding a State University. In 1848 he was elected superintendent of public instruction, being re-elected to the office in 1852 and 1854, but at the latter date ill health again forced him to return South, and, having taken orders in the Prostestant Episcopal Church, he was for three years rector of Trinity Church, St. Augustine, Fla. He was first married to Miss Hannah Dayton, of Hudson, N. Y., and secondly to Miss Laura Jenkins, who was born in New York City in 1815. She became the mother of four children, and died in 1876. Mr. Roote died July 25, 1887, at St. Augustine, Fla. His father was a native of Connecticut, and was a physician by profession. He was a descendant of Thomas Roote who emigrated from England at an early day and settled in Northampton, Mass. The maternal great-grandfather of our subject, Thomas Jenkins, was born at Nantucket, Mass., and amassed a great deal of wealth. He was a large ship owner, and was one of the chief founders of Hudson, N. Y. His son, Gilbert, was also a ship owner, and for over thirty years was a collector of the port at Hudson, N. Y. The latter’s daughter, Laura, was the mother of the gentleman whose name heads this sketch, G. J. Roote. The latter was educated in Ripon College, Wis., but in 1863 left his studies to enter the Federal army, and was a faithful soldier until 1866. His literary and other mental endowments were soon recognized, and he became a clerk in the adjutant-generals’ office, under Maj. Gen. Thomas. His ability as a clerk was very remarkable, and during all his wearisome routine of duty not one of his records was returned for correction. At the close of the war he wrote the history of the Fourteenth Army Corps. For several years after the war he was in the employ of different publishing companies, and then engaged in the real estate business in Jefferson County, Mo., but after some time went to Alabama, where he and a brother established the Tuscumbia Chronicle, a weekly journal, but sold out in 1874, returned to Missouri, and located in Wright County in 1884, where he engaged in prospecting and mining. In 1885 Mr. Roote became editor of the Wright County Republican, but the following year embarked in his present work, and does an annual business of $30,000. He is an uncompromising Union man, a strong Republican, and was the prime mover in establishing the G. A. R. post at Mansfield, and has been its Commander since its organization. He was married in 1872 to Mrs. Elizabeth Fotheringham, nee Bryan, who was born in Ste. Genevieve County, Mo., in 1844. Mr. Roote was the Republican candidate for the Legislature from Wright County in the late election.

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This family biography is one of 90 biographies included in The History of Wright County, Missouri published in 1889.  For the complete description, click here: Wright County, Missouri History, Genealogy, and Maps

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