Biographical Sketch of John M. Gillilan, Johnson County, Missouri, Columbus Township >From "History of Johnson County, Missouri," by Ewing Cockrell, Historical Publishing Company, Topeka, Cleveland, 1918. ********************************************************************** John M. Gillilan, a well known Confederate veteran and honored pioneer of Johnson County, is a native of West Virginia. He was born in Green- brier county on June 16, 1837, and when sixteen years of age came to Missouri and located first in Lafayette county, where he rented a home for three months and then in October, 1853, settled on the farm in Columbus township, where he has resided almost continuously for more than sixty years. The only time Mr. Gillilan was away from the farm was during the Civil War, when he was in the Confederate service for four years. John M. Gillilan joined the army on Honey creek and served first under Vard Cockrell and later under "Fighting Joe" Shelby. He saw active service in Missouri, Arkansas, was dangerously wounded in the left lung and wrist. This was in May, 1864, and when the war ended in 1865 Mr. Gillilan had not yet fully recovered from the effects of his wound. In October, 1865, John M. Gillilan returned to his home in John- son county and he has ever since been engaged in general farming and stock raising. He owns 260 acres of valuable land in Lafayette county and Columbus and Hazel Hill townships, a farm which was originally entered from the government by Mont Cockrell, an uncle of Senator Fran- cis M. Cockrell. This tract of land was obtained from the Cockrell heirs by Mr. Gillilan. On December 31, 1857, John M. Gillilan and Rachel Ruth Kelly were united in marriage. Mrs. Gillilan is a daughter of John Kelly, a pioneer of the early fifties, of Johnson county, and was born March 1, 1842. To Mr. and Mrs. Gillilan have been born twelve children: Mrs. Martha Grinstead, who resides near Kingsville, Mo.; William Price, who died at the age of 25 years; Mrs. Anna VanMeter, Odessa, Mo.; Mrs. Lydia Violet, Hazel Hill township; George, Columbus township; Ray, who resides on the home place; Bertie, at home; Mrs. Gertrude Anderson, Odessa, Mo.; Charles, the competent cashier of the American Trust Company of Warrensburg; Ethel, at home with her parents; Clarence, at home; and one child died in infancy. Mr. Gillilan is now eighty years of age but as alert mentally and physically as many men twenty years younger. He possesses a remarkable memory, and the excep- tional faculty of readily recalling names. Among the "old timers" of the fifties, whom he knew personally in Johnson county were: William Dalton, Abner Wood, Finley Barnett, William Frakes, John McNeal, Adam Wolfenberger, Frederick Rhodes, Levi Evans, James Norris, Lewis McCoy, Alex Cockrell, Samuel Kirby, Isaac Horner, John Kelly, Albert, Johna- than and Isaac Groves, Thomas McBride, Bart West, Samuel Whitsett, Mrs. Katie Morrow, Sabina Renick, Samuel Ramsey, Wilson Sammett, and Frank- lin Ramsey, who is now living in Warrensburg at the advanced age of 90 years. Mr. Gillilan remembers frequently hearing Senator Cockrell speak on various occasions in the days before the Civil War. He heard Senator Vest deliver his famous eulogy on the dog at the trial result- ing from the killing of a dog, when two brothers-in-law, Hornsby and Burton, were at law. Cockrell was employed as attorney opposing Senator Vest at the trial. Sixty-four years ago, John M. Gillilan came from West Virginia to make his home in the thinly settled West, on the broad, open prairie land of Missouri. To young Gillilan, then a boy still in his teens, life on the plains must have presented a great richness of experience. For more than a half century, the Gillilan name has stood for the best in life and has become a synonym for honor, honesty and nobility. And "a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches." ==================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE: In keeping with our policy of providing free information on the Internet, data may be used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material. These electronic pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or for presentation by other persons or organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for purposes other than stated above must obtain the written consent of the file contributor. This file was contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives by: <> Penny Harrell ====================================================================