George A Gotshall, b 12 May 1843

HETHERINGTON, GREENE, PROVIN

Posted By: Donna Moldt Walker (email)
Date: 4/23/2004 at 07:25:44

George A. Gotshall, one of the most public-spirited men of Miles, and the owner of a fine property, is the leader of the drug business in this place, carrying a full stock of goods and handling everything pertaining to this line of merchandise. He has arisen from a modest position in life to a condition of comparative ease and affluence, is a man of cultivated tastes, a great admirer of the beauties of nature, and warmly interested in art, science and music.

Next in importance to a man's own personal identity is that of those from whom he drew his origin. The parents of our subject were David and Rebecca (Hetherington) Gotshall, both natives of Pennsylvania, the father of German descent and the mother the daughter of an old American family. There were born to them eight children, four sons and four daughters, of whom George A. is the sixth. His native place was Lewisburg, Pa., and the date of his birth May 12, 1843. He lived there until a youth of fifteen years, then starting out for himself made his way to Mt. Carroll, Ill., where he began working in a blacksmith shop. Upon the outbreak of the Rebellion he enlisted in the first company organized in that county, being then a youth of less than eighteen years. On account of his diminutive stature he was rejected, but determined to engage in the preservation of the Union, he tried again and succeeded in being admitted to the 7th Illinois Cavalry as cook for the band. After coming home hr engaged in the drug business with A.H. Lichty, of Mt. Carroll.

In the fall of 1862 Mr. Gotshall once more entered the ranks of the Union Army as a member of Company I, 92d Illinois Infantry, under command of Capt. Becker, and was mustered into service at Rockford, Ill., where they drilled for some time. They finally departed for the South, and soon encountered the enemy, a portion of whom were under Morgan, with whom they skirmished in Kentucky. Thence they proceeded to Nashville and Franklin, Tenn., engaging in the severe battles at those places. At Wartrace in that State, the regiment was mounted and attached to Wilder's Brigade of mounted infantry. The 92d was the first regiment upon the battlefield of Chattanooga, and later participated in the fight at Chickamauga.

After camping at Harrison's Ford two months, the 92d Illinois Infantry were assigned to the command of Gen. Kilpatrick, of cavalry fame, and later joined the army of Sherman on his march to the sea. They were engaged in battle with the rebel General Johnston, and the 92d was one of the four regiments which surrounded Atlanta prior to its surrender. At the close of the war they were mustered out at Concord, N.C. At the battle of Resaca, Ga., Wilson Gotshall, the brother of our subject was mortally wounded, and died at Nashville.

Upon retiring from the service Mr. Gotshall repaired to Lanark, Ill., and engaged as a clerk in the drug-store of P.B. Stauffer, with whom he remained one year. He was married at that place in the fall of 1868, to Miss Rachel E. Greene, of Pleasant Valley, Jo Daviess County, and for two years afterward conducted a store at Lanark. At the expiration of this time he began farming which he followed five years in Pleasant Valley Township, where he secured land. He finally sold out, and coming to Miles brought to this place the first stock of drugs and put up the first drug-store in the town. This building was destroyed by fire in 1879, and Mr. Gotshall erected the present one the same year. He also has another brick building in the town.

Mrs. Rachel E. (Greene) Gotshall became the mother of one child, a daughter, May F., and died at Miles in 1880. Our subject contracted a second marriage with Miss Ella Provin, of Sabula, Iowa, and of this union there have been born three children - Edith, Clara and Burton. Mr. Gotshall, politically, is a sound Republican, and a prominent member of the G.A.R. His estimable wife is a member in good standing of the Congregational Church. Mr. Gotshall is quite proficient as musician, having fine tastes in this direction, and is a leader of the Miles Cornet Band.

("Portrait and Biographical Album of Jackson County, Iowa", originally published in 1889, by the Chapman Brothers, of Chicago, Illinois.)