George M. Grout

BLAKE, COMPTON, DANFORTH, GROUT, SALISBURY, WINCHEL, YOUNG

Posted By: Judy Wight Branson (email)
Date: 8/15/2004 at 10:11:42

G. M. Grout, who is the proprietor of a feed, coal and grain store in Winterset and also owns a sale barn here, is a well known and esteemed resident of this city. He was born in Knox county, Illinois, November I, 1856, of the marriage of John Chester and Charlotte (Winchel) Grout. The father was born on the 1st of November, 1828, in the state of New York, and the mother in Randolph, Portage county, Ohio, on the 29th of November, 1836. They resided in Knox county, Illinois, for a number of years and the father followed agricultural pursuits there, continuing in that occupation after the removal of the family to Winterset in 1872. He died in 1906, and his wife still survives him.

G. M. Grout received his early education in Knox county, Illinois, and was later for one year a student in the schools of Nebraska, in which state the family lived for a short time. Subsequently he concentrated his attention upon helping his father with the farm work and so continued until he was twenty-one years of age. He then rented a farm for two years, after which he purchased seventy-six acres in Scott township, this county, having lived frugally and husbanded his resources with the end in view of becoming a landowner. After cultivating his place for four years he traded it for an eighty-acre tract, upon which he remained for ten years. In the meantime he had bought what is known as the Walnut Grove farm in Scott township, an excellent place, comprising one hundred and ten acres. After operating that farm for ten years he sold it and purchased the Cox farm of one hundred and forty-five acres, also in Scott township, upon which he remained for six years. He divided his attention between the cultivation of the soil and the raising of stock and found that the two phases of work coordinated well. In 1907 he removed to Winterset and turned his energies into mercantile lines, opening a feed, coal and grain business, in connection with which he conducts a sale barn. In the eight years that he has been a factor in the commercial life of Winterset he has demonstrated his business ability, shrewdness and energy and has the respect of all who have had dealings with him.

On the 25th of December, 1878, Mr. Grout married Miss Luella Compton, a daughter of Joseph and Elizabeth (Salisbury) Compton, who removed from Indiana to Warren county, Iowa, in the early days of the history of this state. About 1860 they took up their residence in Madison county and the father, who was a miller by trade, found employment in the old Buffalo mills, one of the first mills in this county. Mr. and Mrs. Grout have five children: Grace, who married William H. Blake, of Winterset; Walter F., of South Dakota, who married Miss Bessie Young, by whom he has a daughter, Ethel; Ray, a farmer in Scott township, who married Miss May Buchanan, by whom he has two children, Nelson and Russell; Elsie, who married Robert Danforth, of Winterset, by whom she has a son, Halstead; and Delos, at home.

Mr. Grout votes the republican ticket, as his views upon political questions coincide with its principles, and he has been elected to a number of township offices. The high standard of ethics to which he adheres is indicated by his membership in the Methodist Episcopal church and his life is an influence for good in his community. He is public spirited and although the greater part of his time is given to the conduct of his business interests he is glad to cooperate with measures that seek to upbuild his community along lines of business, civic and moral advancement.

Taken from the book, “The History of Madison County, Iowa, 1915”