Biography - Franklin D. Gould
FRANKLIN D. GOULD. Our subject is one of the firm known as Gould Bros.,
dealers in grain, who have a wide reputation for honor and integrity, and
enjoy the confidence of the community in which they are living by virtue of
their fair and upright dealing. He of whom we are writing was born in
Cambria, Niagara County, N. Y., April 22, 1847. He was reared on his
father's farm and was engaged in farming in his native county until 1883,
when he disposed of his farm and came to this State, settling in Windsor,
and soon after launched into the grain business in partnership with his
brother, Lyman A. Gould.
For two montns after coming to this State Mr. Gould was employed by E. & I.
Jennings at Mattoon, Ill., in buying grain. He went to Decatur, at which
place he remained four months, being there employed by the Wabash Railroad
Company. He was married in Cambria, N. Y., February 28, 1872, to Miss Agnes
C. Colt, who was a native of the same county and State as himself.
Mrs. Gould is a refined and womanly woman and makes a pleasant home for her
husband and children, of which she has had four. They are: Elmer W., Clara
M., Florence and Grace A. It was a great blow to the parents when their
eldest child and only son, and was taken from them in February, 1890. He was
at the full bud and promise of manhood, being seventeen years of age at the
time of his death, he was a victim of that dread disease — La Grippe, which
made vacant so many places in families throughout the country, suffering
severely before his decease. The second daughter, Florence, died when a
small child, being only four years of age.
Although not an office-seeker in any sense, Mr. Gould, like most of the
fresh, vigorous young men in our country, cannot but be interested in
political life. He has allied himself with the Democratic party. Both our
subject and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he
having been so connected since 1866, and his wife's church relations dating
from childhood. Mr. Gould is a modest and unpretentious man, whose first
consideration is attention to his business. He is, however, a favorite in
both commercial and social circles, and is highly esteemed as one of the
representative men of the town.
Extracted 29 May 2017 by Norma Hass from 1891 Portrait and Biographical Record of Shelby and Moultrie Counties Illinois, page 284.
