DeSoto Parish, Louisiana; Biography: John C. Ross - r200

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Typed by Trudy Marlow
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           John C. Ross, planter, Gloster, La.  Prominent
         among the successful and progressive planters of
         De Soto Parish stands the name of John C. Ross,
         who owes his nativity to that parish, his birth oc-
         curring in 1850.  He came of an old and promi-
         nent South Carolina family, his parents, John A.
         and Mary H. H. (Goodwin) Ross, both being natives
         of that State, the father born in Fairfield District
         in 1807, and the mother in Richland District in
         1816.  They were married in that State, but after-
         ward lived for two years in Alabama, one year in
         Mississippi, and in 1849 came to De Soto Parish,
         settling in the woods near Gloster, where they im-
         proved about 1,000 acres.  In 1858 they removed
         to near Keatchie, where Mrs. Ross died in 1863,
         and Mr. Ross in 1865.  Both were members of the
         Baptist Church.  The paternal grandfather, Abner
         Ross, was born in Maryland and died in South
         Carolina.  He was a farmer by occupation and
         served the last two years of the Revolutionary
         War.  He was at one time a member of the South
         Carolina State Senate.  The maternal grandfather,
         Jesse H. Goodwin, was born in the Palmetto State,
         and came also to De Soto Parish in 1849.  There
         his death occurred in 1861.  His wife, whose
         maiden name was Sarah Hopkins, died there in
         1853.  John C. Ross, the sixth of eight children,
         received his education at Keatchie and at the Louis-
         iana State Seminary at Baton Rouge.  After this
         he farmed for a year, then spent three years sur-
         veying levees on the Red River, and then clerked
         in a store for the same length of time.  For three
         years after this he was in the sheep business in
         Texas; then clerked in a railroad office at Big
         Springs, Tex.; then steamboated on Red River
         for three years, and since then has been engaged
         in agricultural pursuits.  For three years he was
         justice of the peace, and for four years postmaster
         at Gordon, Tex.  He is a member of the Staked
         Plain Lodge of A. F. & A. M., at Big Spring, Tex.
         His marriage occurred in the Lone Star State in
         1881 to Miss Celestia L., daughter of William and
         Dorcas Grouch, natives of New York and Texas,
         respectively.  Mr. Grouch died in Texas in 1884,
         but his widow is still living.  He was an engineer
         by profession.  Mrs. Ross was born in Texas, and
         died there in 1882, leaving one daughter.  She
         was a devout member of the Missionary Baptist
         Church.