Untitled Document

Nelson. Gaines

Gaines,of Geneseo, is a pioneer ofHenry County of 1848, and is one of themost worthy and esteemed citizens of thecounty whose interests he has promoted sincehe became a resident therein. He is a native of Granville, Mass., where he was born March 23,1817 .

His father, Samuel Gaines, was also a native of the bay state, and his mother, who before her marriage was named Esther Blakesley, was a native of Connecticut .

The family went, when the son was three years old, to Delaware Co., N. Y., and he there passed the years which intervened between his childhood and manhood. On arriving at a suitable age to commence business, he embarked in the mercantile line. In 1842 he came to Victoria , Ill. , and there became interested in agriculture, and operated as a farmer until 1848. In that year he removed to Cambridge , in Henry County , and was the first to establish a mercantile enterprise at that place. He conducted what is now known as an old-fashioned country store, and transacted a profitable and popular busi ness. He remained there until the fall of 1860, when he removed to Geneseo. He engaged in the management of a general store, which includes all lines of merchandise common to the trade; but in his case hardware was excluded. After r 2 years of ac tive business he retired, and has since lived a life of quiet, without business relations. He has acquired a considerable interest in land in Iowa and Dakota, and has been successful in his operations in that direction.

In his political relations, Mr. Gaines is an inflexble Republican, although he has never been considered an aggressive politician. While at Cambridge he officiated as Postmaster eight years, and he has filled several positions of trust in the management of local affairs. He was an Abolitionist, and has kept in the ranks of that element in its various movements. He has been a member of the Congregational Church for more than 40 years.

Mr. Gaines has been thrice married. Harriet (Andrews) Gaines, to whom he was joined in matri mony in Otsego Co., N. Y., in 1837, was born in Delaware Co., N. Y., and was the daughter of Hiram Andrews. She bore three children: George died at the age of four years ; Clarissa is the wife of E. G. Comstock, of Rapid City , Dak. ; Julia married James W. Stewart, of Cambridge , Ill. , who is a grain merchant at that place. The mother died in 1852. Mr. Gaines was again married, in Cambridge , in December, 1854, to Clarissa Hinman. She was the daughter of Willis Hinman, and was born in Bristow , Conn. The issue of the second marriage comprises five children, namely : Hattie is the wife of Charles E. Genung, of Menlo , Iowa ; Emma married George L. Gilman, and they reside in Dakota ; Lucy married Dr. R. W. Miller, who is engaged in the prac tice of his profession at Menlo, Iowa ; Frank N. is in the provision business at Grinnell, Iowa; Harvey S. is a student at the Collegiate Institute at Geneseo. The second wife of Mr. Gaines died at Geneseo, in October, 1877. Amy H. Wilson became his wife in February, 1879. She was born in Belchertown, Mass., and died at Geneseo, July 13, 1884.

The History of Henry County

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Illinois Ancestors