Pages 175-177

A native of Livingston county and a resident of this section for over seventy-four years, Squire M. Gee is a son of one of the first settlers of this county, his father having come here at a time when the country was still in its primitive state of wilderness. Our subject, himself having lived here from pioneer times to the present days of modem civilization, has not only been a witness to the wonderful changes that have transformed the virgin land into fertile fields but has been a helpful and important factor in the process. By industry and energy as well as progressiveness he has attained to financial success and is recognized as one of the most prosperous men of Jackson township, where he owns a valuable farm comprising three hundred acres on sections 1, 25, 4 and 24.

Born December 29, 1838, he is a son of Henry and Anne (Dockery) Gee, the father coming here during the frontier days. He took up a land claim and set to work to develop his property by clearing it of brush and timber and gradually bringing it under the plow through incessant and patient labor. When he settled here in the virgin forest Indians still roamed freely about and plentiful were the wild animals which often furnished the meat for the table. The father passed away in 1895, respected and venerated as one of the first settlers, having reached the age of seventy-seven years, his wife following him in death in 1900 at the age of eighty years. Both received the highest respect from all who knew them and stood high in the estimation of their friends and neighbors. They found their last resting place in Shelburn cemetery, in Jefferson township, Grundy county. The family originally was Scotch and at an early day in the history of this country some of its members left the land of hills and heather and settled in Tennessee, from which state the grandfather of our subject, William Gee, enlisted for service in the War of 1812 and valiantly fought under General Jackson, holding the commission of lieutenant in the American ranks.

Squire M. Gee attended the district schools near his father's farm in the acquirement of his education and obtained such learning as was at his disposal in those early and primitive pioneer days. He continued in school to the age of twenty-one years, although his lessons were often interrupted, most of his time being given to assisting his father in the work of the home place, materially helping in wresting from forest land a fertile and valuable farm. After reaching his majority he was presented by his forbear with eighty acres of land which he cultivated with such success that his financial returns permitted him to extend the boundaries of his property from time to time until he possessed four hundred acres, part of which, however, he has given to his children. Pursuing general farming, he has attained excellent success in feeding and raising cattle, deriving a gratifying income from that branch of his interests. A handsome residence erected upon his property is evidence of his prosperity and the other buildings which he has erected bespeak the practicability of his methods and his progressive spirit. All such improvements and equipment as are considered indispensable to modern agricultural pursuits can be found upon his farm and. there is no labor-saving machinery which is conducive to better results that cannot be found on his place.

On November 6, 1862, Mr. Gee was united in marriage in Jefferson township, Grundy county, Missouri, to Miss Eleanor Robinson a daughter of William and Eleanor Robinson, and on November 6, 1912 Mr. and Mrs. Gee celebrated the rare occasion of their golden wedding, receiving felicitations from far and near upon this occasion. Mr. Robinson, the father of Mrs. Gee, passed away in 1866, his wife having preceded him in death. While the former is buried in the Woldridge cemetery in Grundy county the latter found her last resting place in Spottsylvania county, Virginia. Mr. and Gee became the parents of the following children: Nellie, the wife of Frank Burgess, an agriculturist of Jackson township; two who died in infancy; Fannie, who was the wife of Lewis Boyle and the mother of two children, her husband also having passed away; and Annie, who died at the age of fifteen years.

The interests of Mr. Gee also extend to other fields, for he is a stockholder of the Farmers Exchange Bank of Trenton, Missouri.

A democrat in his political affiliations, be gives his stanch support to the measures and candidates of that party and as incontrovertible evidence of his public spirit may be cited, that he has served for twenty years as a local school director, always taking a deep interest the cause of education and its advancement. A faithful member of the Baptist church, he gives his material and moral support to that organization, having for a number of years been a trustee thereof. Highly esteemed and greatly respected, Mr. and Mrs. Gee are well known all ever the countryside and have made many friends during their long lives, in which they have demonstrated many commendable qualities of heart and mind. Expression of the appreciation in which they are held was given on the occasion of their golden wedding when old and young, near and far friends and neighbors congregated to offer congratulations and good wishes. A man of earnest purpose, Mr. Gee has made a record fraught with success and with the assistance of his faithful and helpful wife has attained to a position which places him among the successful agriculturists of Livingston county and, more than that, not only among the men who have attained individual prosperity but among the worthy pioneers who have been important factors in bringing about the prosperous conditions that now prevail.

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