George E. Gould was born in Cumberland County, North Carolina, December 4, 1848. He was of English ancestry, and many of the family, especially on the maternal side, were eminent in various professional and intellectual pursuits. One of his uncles, George Sweeting, was an eminent physician in England, and on one or more occasions was called in consultation to treat England's prospective king, the Prince of Wales. Another uncle, Robert Sweeting, was an eminent and distinguished artist, and painted the portraits of some of the most notable of the queen's subjects. Mr. Gould's parents were William E. and Frances E. (Sweeting) Gould. In 1856 they removed from North Carolina to Scott County, Iowa, and here George E. was brought up. He was educated in the public schools and also at Griswold College, where he spent three years under the tutelage of that eminent educator, Professor Sheldon. He early manifested an inclination to become a lawyer, and upon quitting college entered upon the study of the law in the office of Stewart & Armstrong. He was admitted to the bar in 1871, and in the year following began the active practice of his profession in Davenport. A short time after this Alfred Sull went to New York to become associated with Austin Corbin, and the firm of Brown, Sully & Campbell became the firm of Brown, Campbell & Gould. This partnership continued some ten years, when Messrs. Brown and Campbell also went east and the firm's business and practice were continued by Mr. Gould. He next became junior partner of the firm of Ellis, Murphy & Gould, which firm was afterward Murphy & Gould, and so continued until Mr. Gould's death, which occurred November 13, 1891. He was married in 1872 to Miss Emiline E., daughter of J. J. Humphrey of Davenport, who with two sons, George H. and John W., survive him.
Probably no attorney who ever lived in Davenport was more sincerely mourned than was George E. Gould. He possessed in an eminent degree those qualities that win and hold the affectionate regard of all classes. As a lawyer he gave more attention to commercial law than to any other branch of practice, and became an authority on intri cate points of that line of practice. He was also a good criminal lawyer. He possessed a high order of intelligence, a keen insight into the merits of a case and seemed intuitively to grasp the very pith of the points involved . His opinion on any question of law was highly valued by his associates at the bar, and he was frequently consulted by his brother attorneys when they had a case requiring careful handling.
He was a man of great modesty, and this quality undoubtedly stood frequently in the way of his advancement, as he often allowed oppor tunities for personal preferment to pass unimproved, where more ambitious or selfish men would have utilized them to the utmost.
He was a Republican in politics, and an active worker for the interests of his party, but always refused office. While of a most genial nature, he was a man of very positive character; once having decided on the right and justice of a position he would maintain his views at all hazards. He became a Mason in the early years of his manhood, and was an earnest and active one.
When his untimely death came, his associates at the bar, his brethren of the legal fraternity and his neighbors and friends vied with each other in paying tribute to his sterling worth , for he was, in very truth, the friend of all.
BIOGRAPHIES