No specific year can be established for the birth of James D. Gill, but by all records it appears to have been in 1869. James was born in Township 9 Range 3 of Williamson County which today would be East Marion Township. His parents were Leonard Wilson Gill and Elizabeth Jane Sherertz, both born in Tennessee and appear to have been fairly recent arrivals when James was born due to the fact that the 1870 census revealed his farmer father had no real estate and only $100 in personal estate value. When that census was taken there were only two children in the home, William 13, an older brother to 1 year old James. Interestingly, there were a couple of Sherertz family farms surrounding them, no doubt relatives, in addition to the William J. Spiller family.
The parental family appears to have established themselves better over the next 10 years because the 1880 census found them living on a farm in Rock Creek Precinct, which today would be the area from Crab Orchard, Illinois east to the Saline County line. At this time, James parents were in their mid 30’s and had five children; William 13, James 11, Etta 7 and Audie aged 1.
On November 15, 1888, James married Maud Cruse, daughter of M.L. Cruse and Frances Kimmel. An announcement in the August 6th edition of The Leader newspaper declared that the only small child of the couple had died of cholera, a rough start to a young marriage.
By the time 1900 rolled around, James D., himself a carpenter, had gone into partnership with Caleb T. Holland and they began operating a business called Marion Lumber & Planing Company located on W. Main Street just on the west side of the railroad tracks in what is now the 700 block.
The 1900 census found James 31 and his wife Maude 29 living in Marion in a rented home with two children; Charles 6 and Lee 6 months.
In 1902, James served as Marion city alderman under Mayor William H. Bundy and again in 1903 under Mayor Charles H. Denison.
By 1906, the planing business had been incorporated into the lumber mill owned by C.T. Holland at the end of S. Holland St. and became exclusively the ownership of James D. Gill under the name of the Marion Planing Mill Company. The couple must have had a residential home near the mill since a 1907 city directory lists their house at 301 S. Holland St.
Around this period of time, James was working as a contractor, carpenter and running the mill. He was found to have contracted the building of houses from as far south as Cairo and north as Salem, Illinois.
The 1910 census listed the Gill family at 301 S. Holland St. James was manager of a planing mill and they had four children in the home; Charles R. 16, Lee Gordon 10, Neill 9, and Mildred 4. They owned their home with a mortgage.
Sometime between the 1910 census and 1917 the family moved to St. Louis, Missouri where James’ wife Maud passed away from stomach cancer on July 26, 1917. Maude had been born on June 26, 1870. She was interred in Valhalla Cemetery in St. Louis.
When the 1920 federal census was taken the family was still in St. Louis except James D. was now widowed at age 50 and working as a carpenter. They were renting a place at 3160 Brantner and he still had 3 children living at his home; Lee Gordon 20 working as a bank clerk, Neill 19 working as a rope winder in a rope factory and Mildred aged 14. In addition, James’ father-in-law, M.L. Cruse was living with them and working as a waiter at a restaurant.
Shortly after the 1920 census was taken the family appears to have returned to live in Marion. In a 1923 city directory, James is renting space at 1019 W. Main St. and listed as a contractor. By 1925, he had purchased a home at 103 N. Bentley and listed it as Gill Apartments. An ad in the Marion Evening Post in 1925 listed an ad for him advertising a 3 bedroom apartment at that location.
An article in the August 20th edition of the Marion Evening Post stated that J.D. Gill was leaving Marion for a position in Chicago to take charge of contracting for a company. His brother A.D. Gill and his daughter Miss Mildred Gill were to accompany him on the trip.
When the 1930 census came out, just months into the depression, James was then 61 and an unemployed carpenter living as a boarder in a home in Chicago. Ten years later in the 1940 census, not much had changed, James, 71, was still an unemployed carpenter with no work so far in the year living in a boarding house.
On September 24, 1949, James D. Gill passed away at the age of 80 in Chicago, Illinois. His body was transferred to St. Louis, Missouri and he was interred next to his wife in Valhalla Cemetery. He was the father of Mrs. Frank Donahue, Charles R. Gill, Lee G. Gill, and James N. Gill.
(Sources: Federal Census records, FindaGrave.com, Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Missouri Death records, Marion Street Directories, The Leader and Marion Evening Post newspapers, Williamson County Marriage records. Compiled by Sam Lattuca on 9/20/2023)