Lake County IN Archives Biographies.....Gill, James A. 1865 - 
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Author: T. H. Ball (1904)

JAMES A. GILL.

    James A. Gill is well known in the business circles of Whiting, where his
keen sagacity, enterprise and well directed efforts have led to his connection
with important interests and his consecutive progress therein. He is now the
superintendent of the wax-pressing department of the Standard Oil Company, is
president of the Whiting Electric Light Company and is also a director of the
First National Bank of Whiting.

    Mr. Gill was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on the 3d of January, 1865. His
father, Isaac Gill, was a native of England and was reared in that country,
remaining there until about thirty years of age, when, hoping to enjoy better
business opportunities in the new world, he crossed the Atlantic, taking up his
abode in Cleveland, Ohio. In that city he was united in marriage to Miss Barbara
Heck, who was born in Germany and came to the United States after reaching
womanhood. Isaac Gill was in the employ of the Standard Oil Company of Cleveland
for thirty-eight years, in fact, he was one of the pioneer representatives of
the company and was employed directly by John D. Rockefeller. After the
establishment of the plant at Whiting he came to this city, and here died in his
seventieth year, while his wife also died when about seventy years of age.

    James A. Gill, their only child, spent the days of his boyhood and youth in
the city of his nativity, and came to Whiting in 1889 when the Standard Oil
Company located its manufacturing plant at this place. He acted as timekeeper
for the brick-layers employed in the construction of the buildings, was
afterward made inspector of oils in the laboratory, filling that position for
about three years. He was next appointed superintendent of the acid works,
holding this position for about ten years, going from the acid works to the
paraffine department, which position he now holds. He is one of the most trusted
as well as capable representatives of the corporation, and this department is
always managed with excellent executive ability that results in efficient
workmanship. As his financial resources have increased, owing to the increased
wages that have come with promotion, he has been enabled to extend his efforts
into other lines of activity and is now the president of the Whiting Electric
Light Company and one of the directors and stockholders of the First National
Bank of Whiting. He was one of the incorporators of the Petrolene Paint and
Roofing Company, and was made its first president, resigning same some time ago,
as the duties of the office were getting too great for him to handle in
connection with his other business. He is also the owner of valuable real estate
here and erected the first three-story brick block built in Whiting.

    In 1891 occurred the marriage of James A. Gill and Miss Carrie H. Halsey, a
daughter of Charles Halsey. She was born and reared in Cleveland, Ohio, and by
her marriage has become the mother of two children: Jesse M. and Grace A. Mr.
Gill is a stanch Republican who keeps well informed on the questions and issues
of the day, but has never sought office as a reward for party fealty.
Fraternally he is connected with the Masons, and he is also a member of the Owls
Club, in which he formerly took a very active part. He is deeply interested in
the growth and progress of his adopted city, and has witnessed its development
from its earliest inception to the present time. For fifteen years he has been
connected with the upbuilding of the place, and has just reason to be proud of
the fact that to his efforts can be traced several substantial enterprises and
achievements contributing greatly to the prosperity and progress of Whiting. In
every sense of the word he is a representative citizen devoted to the welfare of
his chosen state and community and loyal to the government.


Additional Comments:
Extracted from:

ENCYCLOPEDIA
OF
Genealogy and Biography
OF
LAKE COUNTY, INDIANA,
WITH A COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY 
1834—1904

A Record of the Achievements of Its People in the Making of a Commonwealth and
the Founding of a Nation.

REV. T. H. BALL
OF CROWN POINT, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ILLUSTRATED
CHICAGO   NEW YORK
THE LEWIS PUBLISHING COMPANY
1904


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