Gillespie, David

Other Events:

• Occupation: From 1849 to 1881, Madison County, Illinois, USA; a lawyer and judge

Notes:

Birth:
David was the eldest child of Matthew Gillespie (1807-1861) and his first wife, Nancy Gordon, and their only child to survive to maturity.

Occupation:

     The following is a brief biographical sketch published in 1882 in History of Madison County, Illinois; Illustrated; With Biographical Sketches Of Many Prominent Men And Pioneers:

     David Gillespie was born in Edwardsville, Ill., September 30, 1828. He was the eldest child of Matthew and Nancy (Gordon) Gillespie. His mother died during his early childhood. David in his youth had but few of the advantages for obtaining an education that are now enjoyed by nearly every child in the land. The State was then in its infancy, and the school system but imperfectly operated. His education was therefore mainly obtained at the select or subscription schools, with a short time spent at Shurtleff College. As a boy or man he was always a careful student, and by his industry acquired a vast fund of general information. So thorough and complete was his system of study that he could at any time call to mind and into practical use anything that he had ever read or learned. He had a remarkably retentive memory, and was well-versed in the sciences and literature of the day. He was in the broadest and most liberal sense of the term a self-made man, which, in after years, was fully demonstrated by his powers of clear thinking, practical reasoning and self-reliance. Several years before he had attained his majority he had conceived the idea that he would like to follow the profession of law. He accordingly became a student of law in the office and under the direction of his uncle Joseph Gillespie. Here he obtained the mental food that stimulated his active mind. The intricacies of the proper government and conduct of man with his fellow man, as laid down by Blackstone, Kent, Story, and other eminent jurists, found a fertile field in the mind of the young student; and on arriving at twenty-one years of age he was admitted to practice at the bar. He had, however, previously attended a course at the law school in Cincinnati, Ohio. From the time of his enrollment as an attorney-at-law until the day of his death he was actively employed in his chosen profession.
     Few, if any, lawyers ever practiced at the bar in Madison county who were more thoroughly acquainted with the philosophy and intricacies of the law than he. As a lawyer he worked with zeal and energy for the cause of his client, but he would never resort to any unfair or unlawful means to win a case. He became a successful practitioner from the fact that he possessed legal abilities of a high order, and by his honesty and integrity won the confidence of judges and juries. He participated in several important causus celebre, which have shed lustre upon the jurisprudence of the State of Illinois. As an advocate he was both witty and logical, and when his full powers were aroused and called into requisition in the interests of his client, his language became not only ornate, but truly eloquent.
     In 1861 he was appointed Master in Chancery, a position he filled with credit for twelve successive years. While discharging the duties of that office, he was further honored by being elected to the office of County Judge, which position he filled from December, 1865, to December, 1869. With all the multiplicity of duties devolving upon him as Master in Chancery, he never neglected his extensive law practice, and at the same time made a record as County judge that his friends may point to with pride, as being among the purest and most economical in the history of Madison county.
     His death occurred at his home in Edwardsville, after a very brief illness, on the evening of August 1st, 1881.
     He was married to Miss Minna A. Barnsback, October 8th, 1855. She was the daughter of the late Julius L. Barnsback. His widow, two sons and two daughters survive him.
     In his social and family relations, he was one of the purest and best of men - ever true to his friends and to the principles that he believed to be right. In politics, he was a Republican.

     The following biographical sketch was published in The Bench and Bar of Illinois; Historical and Reminiscent, published in 1899.

     Judge David Gillespie was one of the lawyers who attained distinction at the bar of southern Illinois and by his courteous bearing and profound knowledge of jurisprudence fully sustained the majesty of the law and added new luster to the judicial history of the state. This record would be incomplete without a memoir of this most respected man, and can it better be given than in the words of his old-time friend, Judge H. S. Baker, who when the bar of Madison county had assembled to pay tribute of respect to the member who had been taken from them by death, said:
     "May it please the court: I have been requested by the members of the Madison county bar to suggest unto your Honor the death of David Gillespie, one of the ablest and oldest of our lawyers. He died at his home in Edwardsville, on the 1st day of August, 1881, after a brief illness. The shock with which the announcement of his death was received pervades our entire community and could not have been greater had the announcement been that he came to his death by violence.
     "David Gillespie was born on the 29th of September, 1828, in the town of Edwardsville, Illinois. He was the son of the late Mathew Gillespie, and his wife, Nancy Gillespie. Her maiden name was Gorden and she was the daughter of Robert Gordon. Both of David Gillespie's grandparents emigrated from Monaghan county, Ireland, as early as 1819, and settled in Illinois. David Gillespie, in his youth, like the rest of us who were born and reared in Illinois contemporaneous with him, had but few advantages for acquiring an education. As a rule we had to pick up as best we could the rudiments of knowledge from that class of itinerant school-teachers who at that period traveled around from one settlement to another, dispensing their own small fund of information. The log cabin and Webster's spelling-book of 1828 have given place to stately school-houses of 1881, which sit like castles upon our elevated hills, and the vast and attractive course of learning embraced in our modern school-books. After being taught by our itinerant teachers more than the teachers could teach, Mr. Gillespie for a short period attended school at Shurtleff College in Upper Alton, Illinois, where under the tuition of learned and refined teachers he laid the foundation of that knowledge upon which he afterward raised the superstructure of his professional success.
     "After leaving college Mr. Gillespie at once entered the office of his uncle, Judge Joseph Gillespie, and commenced the study of law. As an evidence of the avidity with which he pushed the study of his profession, it may be said that, several years before he arrived at the age of manhood and could be admitted as an attorney at law, he had mastered the entire course of reading allotted to him and had graduated at the law school of Hamilton, Ohio, with high and deserved honors. It was not for him to drag his weary thought through the pages of Coke, of Blackstone, of Kent, of Chitty and of Story. To him those pages were enchanted ground illuminated by that knowledge which he had made up his mind to master.
     "After completing his course of study and upon arriving at the age of twenty-one years, he was admitted to practice as an attorney at law, in 1848, and at once formed a copartnership with Judge Joseph Gillespie in the practice of his profession in this city. Judge Joseph Gillespie even at that time was ranked among the leading lawyers of Illinois and had a practice coextensive with his reputation; and I am informed that during the time of their copartnership, David Gillespie attended to almost the entire office business of the firm, arranging the pleadings and preparing the cases. In 1861, upon the election of Joseph Gillespie as judge of our circuit court, David Gillespie formed a partnership in his profession with Charles F. Springer, which continued until the death of Mr. Springer in 1871. He then entered into partnership with Mr. Cyrus Happy, which was dissolved only a short time previous to his death.
     "David Gillespie was married October 8, 1855, to Miss Minna Barmback, of Madison county, Illinois, by whom he had six children, four of whom, with his widow, survive him.
     "In his home, in social and professional circles, Mr. Gillespie was ever kind and courteous and in his death the community lost one of its best citizens. He achieved high distinction at the bar and he deserved it, for he was ever careful to conform his practice to a high standard of commercial ethics and had a comprehensive knowledge of law and was masterful in its application to litigated questions. As he won success and prominence in his professional career, so he in private life endeared himself to all who knew him by the simple nobility of his character."

Buried:
He and family members were buried in Section II, lots 105-106.

David married Barnsback, Minna A. 8 Oct 1855, Madison County, Illinois, USA. Minna (daughter of Berensbach, Julius Louis Hans and Gonterman, Mary Melinda) was born 12 Nov 1834, Illinois, USA; died 25 Jan 1888, Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, USA; was buried , Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, USA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Married:
According one biographical sketch of David, published in 1899, he and his wife were the parents of six children, four of whom survived him. At this time, this genealogical history has details of only four children.

Census (family):

     According to the 1880 U.S. enumeration, the household in Ward 2 consisted of David Gillespie, a 51 year old lawyer, his wife, Minna Gillespie, age 45, keeping house, and their four children: Julia Gillespie (age 23); Edwin Gillespie (age 18); Henry Gillespie (age 15), and Mary Gillespie (age 10). There were two single boarders: Carrie Houck (age 23) and Clay H. Lynch (age 32), a grain dealer. Also living in the home were two single servants: Mary Mansfield (age 18), born in Maryland of Irish parents; and William Meek (age 26), a farm laborer, he and his parents were born in Bohemia.
     The next household enumerated in this census consisted of Moses Sherman (age 42, a grain dealer), his wife, Isabella Sherman (age 38) and their daughter, Martha Sherman (age 12). Also living in the household was a servant, Mary Childres (age 16).
     And the dwelling enumerated after the Sherman's was the home of Wesley R. Brink (age 30, a publisher), his wife, Nellie Brink (age 26), and their two daughters, Florence Brink (age 3) and Julia Brink (age 1). Also living in the household was Wesley's mother-in-law, Martha Gillespie (age 64, a widow), and Louisa Bernius (age 20), a servant.
     What the 1880 census does not reveal is the close family ties woven through these three homes and foreshadowing extended family associations. Wesley Brink's mother-in-law, Martha A. (McGrew) (Hynes, or Hinds) Gillespie, the second wife of Matthew Gillespie, would have been the mother of Wesley's wife, Elizabeth Eleanor "Nellie" (Gillespie) Brink. Martha was also the mother of Isabella J. (Gillespie) Sherman and the step-mother of David Gillespie, who was the son of Matthew Gillespie and his first wife, Nancy Gordon.
     In 1882, Julia B. Gillespie, daughter of David and Minna (Barnsback) Gillespie, became the first wife Dr. Edward William Fiegenbaum. Clay Hardin Lynch, one of the boarders living in the Gillespie home in 1880, married one of Dr. Fiegenbaum's sisters, Martha Lizette Fiegenbaum, in 1884.

1. Gillespie, Julia B. was born 1856, Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, USA; died 18 Mar 1886, Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, USA; was buried , Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, USA.
2. Gillespie, Mattie C. was born 1859, Illinois, USA; died 22 Jun 1866, Illinois, USA; was buried , Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, USA.
3. Gillespie, Edwin David was born 17 Feb 1862, Illinois, USA; died 11 Apr 1929; was buried , Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, USA.
4. Gillespie, Minna A. was born Abt 1862–1863, Illinois, USA; died 22 Oct 1870, Illinois, USA; was buried , Edwardsville, Madison County, Illinois, USA.
5. Gillespie, Henry Sherman was born Abt 1864–1865, Illinois, USA; died 1926.
6. Gillespie, Mary E. was born 6 Mar 1871, Illinois, USA; died 28 Jan 1942, Santa Clara County, California, USA.

Other Events:

• Occupation: lawyer and politician
• Moved To: 1819, Madison County, Illinois, USA

Notes:

Birth:
He was the eldest of two sons born to David and Sarah Gillespie. The family emigrated from County Monaghan, Ireland shortly before Matthew's birth.

Occupation:

     The following biographical sketch appeared in the History of Madison County, Illinois; Illustrated; With Biographical Sketches Of Many Prominent Men And Pioneers, published in Edwardsville, Illinois, in 1882.

     Judge Matthew Gillespie, was born in the city of New York on the 26th of November, 1807, and was the eldest son of David and Sarah Gillespie, there being but two children, Matthew and Joseph. The latter is yet a resident of Edwardsville, and one among its oldest and most honored citizens. They were of Scotch-Irish parentage, the family having emigrated from Monaghan, Ireland, to New York but a short time prior to Matthew's birth. In 1819, the family moved to Illinois when Matthew was but twelve years of age, and with his parents settled in Madison county, where he continued to reside to the time of his decease; and where the privations and struggles incident to pioneer life tended to develop those strong and leading traits of character, which marked his after life. At that early day, the facilities for obtaining an education were very limited; he therefore, received no more than a common school education, and even this was mainly due to the instructions of his mother. It was to her, more than all others, that he was indebted for that early training which made him so useful a man in after life. With his love for books, he became familiar with modern history, and acquired much more than an ordinary knowledge of law and theology.
     In February, 1827, when he was twenty years of age, he, with his brother Joseph, proceeded to the Galena lead mines; from which he returned in the fall of the same year, when he married Miss Nancy Gordon, a sister of the Rev. Joseph Gordon, late of Vandalia. Of this union there was but one child who lived to maturity - the late Judge David Gillespie of Edwardsville. His wife dying, he again married March 10th, 1839, Mrs. Martha Hynes, nee McGrew, a lady of Scotch parentage. Only three children of this marriage grew to man and womanhood; Isabella J, wife of Moses B. Sherman; Nellie, wife of W. R. Brink, both residents of Edwardsville, and Joseph J. living in San Francisco.
     Judge Gillespie was a man of sanguine temperament and positive qualities. He readily arrived at decided opinions on all subjects presented to his consideration, and ever maintained what he deemed to be right with much ability and zeal. His friendships were strong and enduring, and he was ever found a warm champion for those he loved. He was a good judge of human nature, and was rarely, if ever mistaken in the character of men. His hospitality and charities were fully commensurate with his means. His social qualities were of the best order; genial, lively, quick at repartee; he threw around him a degree of animation that made it impossible to feel dejected in his company.
     Mr. Gillespie was an able and efficient public officer; his qualifications were of the first order, and his faithfulness worthy the example of all who are entrusted with public cares. In 1832, he was the elected Coroner of this county; from 1836 to 1838 he was engaged in the Land Office; in 1839, was elected Judge of Probate, which office he honorably filled for four years. Was enrolling and engrossing clerk in the State Senate in 1839 and '40; was elected Treasurer and Assessor in 1844, for four years; was appointed by Gen. Taylor, Register of the Land Office in 1849 for four years; was subsequently elected Police Magistrate of Edwardsville, which office he continued to fill to the time of decease. In all his official positions he performed his duties with honor to himself and satisfaction to his constituency. He was strongly imbued with Whig proclivities, and was a great admirer of Henry Clay. After that party became disorganized he affiliated with the Republican party. He was an old and intimate acquaintance of President Lincoln, and gave him the most ardent support for the office of the Chief Magistracy of the United States. The house of Mr. Gillespie, when Mr. Lincoln was stopping at Edwardsville, was one of the latter's favorite places of "breaking bread," and where the family and friends enjoyed the rare treat of listening to the fun-loving anecdotes so peculiar to Mr. Lincoln.
     As a friend to youth, Mr. Gillespie had no superior. He was a zealous advocate of temperance, and by his precepts and example, he labored hard to further the welfare and success of the young men of his time. But of all his excellent memories, his moral, religious, and domestic character is the most pleasant. Early in life he made a profession of religion, and attached himself to the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, of which body he continued a consistent and leading member during its organization in this vicinity. In 1836, he united with the Methodist Church, of which he continued a communicant to the time of his decease. His earnest liberality, zeal, and sound judgment made him a valuable member of the church and of society, and at the time of his death he was one of the trustees of McKendree College. As a neighbor, he was obliging and generous to the last degree, and as a husband and father, he was all that affection could desire.
     He passed to the unknown beyond, on the evening of the 24th of March, 1861. His last words were, "I am gone," and he instantly breathed his last. He was nearly 54 years of age, and had spent a large portion of his life in active, public service, and it can be truthfully said, that the world is better for his living. At this writing, his widow is yet living, and is a resident of Edwardsville. She is now in her sixty-eighth year of age, and is strong physically and mentally for one of her years.*

*For much of the above we are indebted to an article published in 1861 by Mr. E. M. West, who was a warm friend of Judge Gillespie.

Matthew married Gordon, Nancy 13 Dec 1827, Madison County, Illinois, USA. Nancy was born Feb 1809, County Monaghan, Ireland; died 25 Aug 1837, Madison County, Illinois, USA. [Group Sheet]

Notes:

Married:

     According to the Illinois Statewide Marriage Index, 1763–1900, an online database hosted by the Illinois State Archives, Matthew Gillespie and Nancy Gordon received a marriage license in Madison County, Illinois or were married on or about 13 December 1827.