full value, $1,500,000; assessed value of railroads, $297,199. There are 16.50 miles of the main line of the Missouri Pacific Railroad crossing the northern part of the county. The condition of the public roads is far above the average in the counties of the State; in fact, few parts of Missouri can boast of roads kept in better condition. In 1899 there were 58 public schools in the county, 64 teachers, 4,268 pupils; the permanent county school fund amounted to $12,548.80, and township permanent school fund $15,067.22. The population in 1900 was 12,298.

Gasconade River. The river bearing this name has its origin in three forks-the Lick Fork, the Piney Fork and the Osage Fork-which rise in Wright, Texas and Webster Counties. Lick Fork and Osage Fork unite in Laclede County, and Piney Fork flows into the stream in Pulaski County; thence the main river flows north through Maries, Osage and Gasconade Counties, into the Missouri at Gasconade City. It is 200 miles long and navigable for flatboats, barges and rafts.

Gatch, Elias S., mine-operator and manufacturer of pig lead and zinc spelter, was born February 14, 1859, at Milford, Clermont County, Ohio, son of John Newton and Georgianna (Hutchinson) Gatch. His father, John N. Gatch, was a son of Lewis Gatch and grandson of Nicholas Gatch, both natives of Maryland. Philip Gatch, an uncle of Lewis, came, in the year 1798, from Baltimore to Newtown, Ohio, and was the first Methodist circuit rider to invade what was then a new country. He introduced Methodism into what was known at that time as the Northwest Territory. Afterward he was a member of the First Constitutional Convention of Ohio, and was the first probate judge of Clermont County in that State. Georgianna Hutchinson, the mother of Elias S. Gatch, was a granddaughter of David Hutchinson, of Milford, New Hampshire, and a member of the famous family of singers of that name. David Hutchinson, who was the eldest of thirteen children, married Betsy Hayward, who was a member of an old New Hampshire family. In his boyhood Elias S. Gatch attended the public schools of Milford, Ohio, and later was a student at the normal school at Lebanon, Ohio, and at the Wes

leyan University of Mount Pleasant, Iowa, graduating from the last named institution in the class of 1882. Soon after leaving school he took charge of large coal-mining interests in northern Missouri, and some time later established himself in business at St. Joseph, in this State, where he remained for six or seven years. In 1894 he came to St. Louis to become connected with the Granby Mining & Smelting Company as its secretary. Two years later he was made general manager of the company's affairs, as well as its secretary, and he has since filled both positions. The Granby Mining & Smelting Company dates its origin from 1853, when Peter E. Blow and F. B. Kennett formed a partnership for the purpose of engaging in lead-mining at Granby. In 1865 Mr. Kennett retired, and the Granby Company was organized, with Peter E. Blow, James B. Eads, Henry T. Blow, Charles K. Dickson and Barton Bates as stockholders. These men were among the noted business men of St. Louis in their day, and the reputation of at least one of them. was national. Since he has been connected with this corporation Mr. Gatch has resided in St. Louis, but twice each month he visits Granby, Joplin and Oronogo to look after the interests of the corporation. A staunch believer in Democratic principles, he was an active member of the Jefferson Club of St. Joseph for many years, and has frequently served his party as a public speaker and otherwise in political campaigns. He has, however, been content with efforts to advance the principles of his party and the interests of his political friends, and has never aspired to office himself. He is a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and for some time. has served as superintendent of the Sunday school connected with St. George's Episcopal Church in St. Louis. June 7, 1887, he was married to Miss Katherine Burnes, daughter of Honorable Daniel D. and Virginia (Winn) Burnes, of St. Joseph. Their children are James Nelson Burnes Gatch, Hayward Hutchinson Gatch, Katherine Gatch and Calvin Fletcher Gatch.

Gates, E. Clyde, president of the Gates & Coomber Pressed Brick Manufacturing Company, was born June 25, 1866, in Greene, Trumbell County, Ohio. His father, Freeman Gates, was a silent partner in the firm of Brooks & Coomber, in Kansas City, and

the subject of this sketch, before his removal to Missouri, was engaged in the manufacture of machinery. In 1893 he removed to Kansas City and associated himself with the company of which he is now the head. George F. Coomber, who is associated with him in the company heretofore referred to, is a native of England, and came to this country in 1870, going direct to Kansas City and arriving there May 31st, of the same year. He was engaged in commercial pursuits of a varied nature for several years, but his prime object in coming to this country was to engage in the manufacture of brick. Accordingly, in 1887, he organized the Diamond Vitrified Brick Company, the yards being located on the Blue River, east of Kansas City. He continued with that company until 1891, when he associated himself with D. E. Brooks. The firm of Brooks & Coomber was in existence until 1893, when Mr. Brooks sold his interest to E. C. Gates. The company now owns four acres of valuable shale land at Twenty-seventh and Woodland Streets and the enterprise is one of the most flourishing of its kind in the West. The annual output is about four million brick. Twenty-five hands are employed and every modern device and essential fixture for the manufacture of dry pressed brick of superior quality is brought into service. The dry process of making brick results in a much harder, denser and less absorbent brick than the common clay variety. The yard now used by this company was purchased by Brooks & Coomber when the business was begun in 1891. Up to the time that Mr. Coomber went to Kansas City for the purpose of putting a valuable idea into practice, the manufacture of brick from shale rock had never been considered possible. The result has been highly satisfactory, and the man who originated the process has had the pleasure of seeing his experiment develop into a great industry. Both members of this firm are members of the Manufacturers' Association of Kansas City and of the Master Builders' Association.

Gates, Edward P., lawyer and jurist, was born March 5, 1845, at Lunnenburgh, Vermont. He was descended from a most honorable ancestry. Stephen Gates, founder of the Gates family in America, came from England in 1638, and settled in Massa

chusetts, where he was one of the founders of Hingham, named for his native town; he was also among the founders of the town of Lancaster, in the same State. His greatgrandson, Captain Silas Gates, served with Massachusetts troops during the Revolutionary War, and Samuel Gates, son of the last named, rendered military service at a later day. George W. Gates, a native of Vermont, was a man of great ability; he served as United States marshal in Vermont under President Van Buren; in 1850 he removed to Illinois, and in 1865 to Independence, Missouri, where he attained considerable prominence. In 1868-9, he was presiding judge of the county court, and in 1871-2, he was a member of the Missouri Legislature. His wife was Sarah D. Todd, a native of Portland, Maine, and a schoolmate of the poet, Henry W. Longfellow. Their son, Edward P., was but five years old when his parents removed to Illinois, where he received his literary education. After attending Port Byron Academy, he pursued a full classical course in Knox College, at Galesburg, from which he was graduated with the highest honors in 1867. He then rejoined his parents, who had removed to Independence, Missouri. There he diligently applied himself to a course of law study under the tutorship of Comingo & Slover, thorough lawyers of the old school, and men of wide discernment and great force of character. He could not have had better training, and he has frequently expressed his deep obligation for their friendly interest in him at a critical time. In 1868 he was admitted to the bar, and began practice. In 1877 he became associated with William H. Wallace, and their partnership under the firm name of Gates & Wallace was pleasantly and profitably maintained for about twenty years. Their business soon became large and important, and for a period of fifteen years they appeared in the greater number of cases involving large interests, originating in Kansas City or tried in its courts. At other times, John A. Sea and T. B. Wallace were associated in membership with the firm, which was finally dissolved January 1, 1896. Mr. Gates acquitted himself so admirably and successfully in his personal practice, that he came to occupy a prominent place in public estimation, and he was called to the position of counselor of Jackson County, when that

office was created in 1886, and was re-elected in 1888. His services in this capacity were marked by conspicuous ability and unimpeachable fidelity to public interests. An interesting incident transpired when he successfully prosecuted a case involving the validity of the oleomargarine law, opposed by the great lawyer and statesman Roscoe Conkling. In 1888 he was admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, before which he appeared in much important litigation, among other cases being those involving county and township liability for railroad and other gratuity bonds, in which he pleaded the cause of the people with masterly force and ability. In 1896 he was elected circuit judge for the Sixteenth Judicial District, comprising Kansas City and Jackson County. In this highly important position, in which he is called upon to deal with issues as momentous as are pressed upon the attention of any court in the State, the bar, by common accord, concede his pre-eminent judicial qualities in deep knowledge of law, comprehension of issues, and equable personal temperament which eliminates the individual and extraneous matter, taking cognizance only of the cause. A marvelous memory retains the most apparently insignificant fact, and no misstatement, whether intentional or accidental, escapes his attention. While his mental processes are unusually rapid, they are at the same time entirely accurate, the product of a mind trained to exact logical methods. In rulings from the bench, or in speech, his language is well chosen, admitting of no misconstruction, and his manner of delivery attests his confidence in the truthfulness of his utterance. For several years he rendered valuable public service as a member of the Board of Managers of Insane Asylum No. 2, at St. Joseph, to which position he was appointed by Governor David R. Francis in 1890, and reappointed by Governor William J. Stone; in the second year of the latter term he voluntarily relinquished the office on account of the exactions of his professional calling. Taking a sincere interest in young men desirous of entering the profession, he affords substantial aid to the Kansas City School of Law, and was for a time a member of its faculty, but withdrew on account of his labors on the bench. He

is well versed in the best of literature, French and German as well as English, and his private library is one of the choicest in the city. Of companionable disposition, he is a favorite in intellectual circles. His recreation is in part in field and forest, where his enjoyment is complete. He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, of the order of Knights of Pythias, and of the society of Sons of the American Revolution, his connection with the last named being derived through the services of distinguished ancestors. Firmly grounded in the principles of Democracy, he was for many years an earnest and able advocate of his party principles, but since his elevation to the bench he has taken no active part in political affairs. Judge Gates was married November 4, 1886, to Miss Pattie Field Embrey, of Richmond, Kentucky, daughter of William and Mary Embrey. She is an intelligent and cultivated lady and comes of an influential and wealthy family connected with the well known Clays and Fields of Kentucky.

Gaty, Samuel, pioneer manufacturer, was born in Jefferson County, Kentucky, August 10, 1811. He came of German ancestry, and his forefathers, who spelled the name Getty, were the founders of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. He was left an orphan at an early age, ran away from the farmer to whom he had been "bound out," when he was ten years of age, went to Louisville, Kentucky, and there apprenticed himself to a firm of machinists and iron founders. He mastered this trade, and by carefully hoarding his earnings, had managed to save something more than two hundred dollars when he was

sixteen years of age. He came to St. Louis in 1828, and in company with two other young men, started a small iron foundry, near the corner of Second and Cherry Streets. This venture did not prove successful, and toward the close of 1829 he returned to Louisville. After working there for a time as a journeyman, he returned to St. Louis and assisted in establishing another iron foundry. He was subsequently head of the firms of Gaty & Coonce, Gaty, Coonce & Morton, Gaty, Coonce & Beltshoover, Gaty, Coonce & Glasby, Gaty, McCune & Glasby, and Gaty, McCune & Co. He became widely known as an iron manufacturer and was a

pioneer in various fields of enterprise. He married Eliza J. Burbridge, and reared a large family of children.

Gay, Edward J., merchant, planter and Congressman, was born February 3, 1816, in Liberty, Bedford County, Virginia, and died May 30, 1889, at his beautiful home on the St. Louis plantation, in Iberville Parish, Louisiana. He was the eldest son of John H. and Sophia (Mitchell) Gay, and came with his parents from Virginia to Illinois when he was three years of age. He was educated at the private school of Mr. Henry Dennis, near Belleville, Illinois, and at Augusta College, in Kentucky. At the age of eighteen years, he engaged in commercial life with his father, who was then a leading merchant in St. Louis. He evinced remarkable aptitude for this business from the beginning, and when he was only twenty-two years of age evidenced his sagacity and enterprise in becoming the first St. Louis merchant to import coffee direct, in large quantities. Splendid success combined with probity and integrity to give him an enviable position among the merchants of the country, during the years that he was engaged in this business in the chief city of Missouri. Alluding to this portion of his career, many years afterward, in a debate in Congress, the late Governor Gear, of Iowa, gave expression to this sentiment: "Mr. Gay's career as a merchant in St. Louis, before the war, had made his name a synonym of honesty, integrity and honest dealing throughout the whole Mississippi Valley." This was the reputation which he bore to the end of his business career. He was rigidly honest, and strictly conscientious. In 1840, Mr. Gay married Miss Lavinia Hynes, daughter of Colonel Andrew Hynes, of Nashville, Tennessee. Fifteen years after his marriage, Mr. Gay was called upon to take charge of the large planting interests of Colonel Hynes in Louisiana, and that occasioned the transfer of his residence from Missouri to Louisiana. He continued, however, to have large property interests in St. Louis, and to take an active part in the improvement and upbuilding of the city. In 1882 he erected, at the corner of Third and Pine Streets in that city, the Gay Building, which was the pioneer office building of the city, and the Meyer Brothers' Drug Building and the Becktold Building are other im

provements for which St. Louis is indebted to Mr. Gay. He had unbounded faith in the development of St. Louis into one of the great commercial centers of the world and made large investments in real estate in that city. The appreciation in the value of this property added largely to his fortune and at the time of his death, although a non-resident of St. Louis, he was one of the city's largest taxpayers. The city of New Orleans also felt the vivifying efforts of his energy and enterprise, and he was the first president of the Louisiana Sugar Exchange, organized in that city and opened June 3, 1884. His life as a planter, in the far South, began many years before the culmination in Civil War of the strife between the Northern and Southern States concerning the institution of slavery. He was an opponent of secession, as long as he felt that this opposition would avail anything, but when the die was cast, he sided with his people. He himself was unfitted for military service by reason of injuries which he had received years before, but his son entered the Southern army and fought through the long struggle which ensued. Mr. Gay was witness to the ruin and destruction that followed in the wake of the armies, and his heart bled for the victims of that appeal to arms. When peace came, however, he wasted no time in vain regrets but gave his best thought and energies to the repairment of the ravages that war had made. His influence and example, and that of men like him, revived the drooping spirits of the people of Louisiana and "barriers to the floods were rebuilt, fields were replanted, factories arose from their ashes, the land regained the beauty that had gone, and peace and plenty smiled where want and desolation stalked in many a home before." He was no less successful as a planter than he had been as a merchant, and in all matters affecting the welfare of the agricultural community in which he lived he was foremost as a promoter of progress and advancement. In a memorial address delivered before the House of Representatives in the Fifty-first Congress, Mr. Wilkinson, of New Orleans, who had been one of his colleagues, alluded to this portion of his life and summarized the events of his subsequent career as follows: "Of all the avocations he ever followed, I believe Mr. Gay was fondest of agriculture, or of that combination of agriculture and