{"id":14063,"date":"2014-06-29T22:39:01","date_gmt":"2014-06-30T03:39:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/?p=14063"},"modified":"2023-06-15T21:34:44","modified_gmt":"2023-06-16T02:34:44","slug":"ben-b-gillespie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/ben-b-gillespie\/","title":{"rendered":"GILLESPIE, Ben B."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The career of <strong>Ben B. Gillespie<\/strong>, of Gallatin, Tennessee, presents a striking example of enterprise, industry and integrity, conducing to eminent success. Reared to the work of the farm, he has continued his operations along agricultural lines to such good effect that today he is the owner of a handsome property in Sumner County, and is known as one of the leading Hereford cattle breeders in the state. <strong>Mr. Gillespie<\/strong> was born in Sumner County, Tennessee, February 1, 1860, and is a son of <strong>Richard G<\/strong>. and <strong>Susan C. (Harris) Gillespie<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The <strong>Gillespie<\/strong> family was founded in America during the middle of the eighteenth century by one <strong>James<\/strong> <strong>Gillespie<\/strong>, who came to this county from Scotland. From him descended <strong>Jacob Gillespie<\/strong>, the grandfather of <strong>Ben B<\/strong>., who was born in North Carolina, and came to Tennessee at an early date. He served in the War of 1812, under <strong>General Jackson<\/strong>, was known as a mighty hunter, and eventually entered land from the government and spent the rest of his life in farming in Tennessee, dying full of years and in the possession of a handsome competency. <strong>Richard G. Gillespie<\/strong> was born in Sumner County in 1826, and spent his entire life in agricultural pursuits, being exceedingly successful in his operations and accumulating 1,400 acres of land. He was one of the founders of the First National Bank of Gallatin, and a director for years, and all movements of a progressive nature could depend upon his support. He was an enthusiastic member of the A. F. &amp; A. M., and in his political views was a stalwart Democrat. His death occurred in March, 1903. <strong>Mr. Gillespie<\/strong> married <strong>Susan C. Harris<\/strong>, who was born in Sumner County in 1833, daughter of <strong>Bright<\/strong> and <strong>Sallie (Walton) Harris<\/strong>, natives of North Carolina. <strong>Mr. Harris<\/strong> was a stone mason by trade, and made his way to Kentucky, and then to Tennessee, with a kit of tools on his shoulder, but lived to attain to eminent success. <strong>Mrs. Gillespie<\/strong> survives her husband and lives with her son, <strong>Ben.<\/strong>, who was the fourth of her six children. She is a woman of many Christian virtues, and has been a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church all of her life.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ben B. Gillespie <\/strong>received his education in the public schools of Sumner County, following which he attended the University of Tennessee, at Knoxville. On his return to the home farm he resumed agricultural pursuits, which he has followed ever since, and is now the owner of a well-cultivated property of 300 acres. <strong>Mr. Gillespie <\/strong>has given his attention during late years to the breeding of thoroughbred Hereford cattle, making a specialty of traveling all over the fair circuit. The year 1912 was a most successful one, as he returned to his farm without an animal, whereas he had started out with a large herd. His animals bring top prices, and a long list of ribbons testify eloquently to their success as prize winners. About forty head are raised annually, all pure breed, and many of these are disposed of through mail orders. <strong>Mr. Gillespie<\/strong> is known as an excellent judge of stock, and his advice is often sought, and freely given, in matters pertaining thereto. During a long experience, he has come in contact with men in every walk of life, and the high esteem in which he is universally held, gives evidence of his integrity in business matters.<\/p>\n<p>In November, 1887, <strong>Mr. Gillespie<\/strong> was united in marriage with <strong>Anna Lou McGabock<\/strong>, daughter of <strong>John<\/strong> <strong>McGabock<\/strong>, a retired farmer of Scotch-Irish descent, who is now living in Nashville. <strong>Mr<\/strong>. and <strong>Mrs<\/strong>. <strong>Gillespie <\/strong>have had two children:\u00a0 <strong>Nellie <\/strong>and <strong>Frank W<\/strong>., both living at home. <strong>Mrs. Gillespie<\/strong> is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. <strong>Mr. Gillespie<\/strong> has shown some interest in fraternal work, being a member of the Loyal Order of Moose. In his political belief he is a Democrat. He is at this time steward in the Methodist Episcopal Church, and for more than a quarter of a century has served as superintendent of the Sunday school.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Source: Hale, Will T, and Dixon L. Merritt. A History of Tennessee and Tennesseans: The Leaders and Representative Men in Commerce, Industry and Modern Activities. Chicago: Lewis Pub. Company, 1913. Volume 5.<\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The career of Ben B. Gillespie, of Gallatin, Tennessee, presents a striking example of enterprise, industry and integrity, conducing to eminent success. Reared to the work of the farm, he has continued his operations along agricultural lines to such good effect that today he is the owner of a handsome property in Sumner County, and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[162,4165,812,4411,418,4419],"tags":[685,994,4246,1533],"class_list":{"0":"post-14063","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-davidson","7":"category-histtennesseans","8":"category-sumner","9":"category-surname-g","10":"category-university-of-tennessee","11":"category-x_featured-image-no","12":"tag-gillespie","13":"tag-harris","14":"tag-mcgabock","15":"tag-walton","16":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14063","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14063"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14063\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14064,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14063\/revisions\/14064"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14063"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14063"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tngenweb.org\/whos-who\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14063"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}