My Genealogy Hound

John T. Gilchrist, merchant at Knobel, Ark., was born in 1861 in St. Charles County, Mo., being the eldest of nine children born to Richard and Fannie (Coleman) Gilchrist, who were born in Ohio and Illinois, respectively. The former was a hotel keeper, and in 1860 removed to East St. Louis, Ill., there following that occupation until 1876, when he moved to Knobel and engaged in the stock raising and saw mill business for a few years; then he retired from the saw mill business and settled on his farm, where he died in 1888. He had about 160 acres of farming land, with some eighty acres under cultivation, and had 420 acres in a stock ranch. His wife died in 1882. John T. Gilchrist attended the schools of St. Louis until seventeen years of age, then began clerking for the Consolidated Steamboat Company, continuing one year, and in 1879 came to Knobel, Ark., and secured the agency at this place of the Iron Mountain Railroad Company, and had charge of the office for five years. In 1884 he erected a fine building and started a saloon and billiard hall, and in 1887 built a large store-house and engaged in general merchandising, his stock of goods being valued at $6,000, and he has a large and rapidly increasing trade. He is a member of the K. of P., the K. of H., and the K. and L. of H. He is particularly active in politics, and votes with the Democratic party. His brother, Richard F., is associated with him in business. The latter came to Knobel with his father in 1876, and worked on the farm until 1886, when he formed his present partnership.