Dr. William M. Gross has been for over a third of a
century engaged in practice in Macoupin county and during a large part of
the time has been located at Gillespie, being now the oldest physician and
surgeon of the city. He is a native of Bollinger county, Missouri, born
March 24, 1842, a son of Christopher and Sophia (Yount) Gross. The father
was a native of Lincoln county, North Carolina, his parents having come to
that state from Northampton county, Pennsylvania. At the age of five years
he removed with his parents to Bollinger county, Missouri. There he grew to
manhood and was married to Sophia Yount, a native of Lincoln county. As the
years passed Mr. Gross became one of the successful farmers of Missouri. He
died at the age of seventy-nine years, his wife having preceded him long
before, when she was only thirty years old. They were both old-school
Presbyterians.
William M. Gross was educated in the public schools
of St. Francois county, Missouri, and later became a student at Carleton
College at Farmington. Missouri. In December, 1863, he started out to see
the world, going aboard a vessel at New York city which was bound for the
Isthmus of Panama. Crossing the isthmus, he went up the coast in another
ship and spent thirteen months in California, a portion of which time he
passed in San Joaquin county, later going to Eldorado county and finally to
Napa county. He engaged in teaching school and also in mining for gold, as
opportunity presented. While in California he cast his first ballot,
supporting Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States. In the spring
of 1865 he gave up his ambition to become wealthy through search for the
yellow metal and returned east via the Isthmus of Panama. In the meantime
his parents had removed to Montgomery county, Illinois. The young man taught
school for one term and, having selected medicine as his profession, began
reading in 1866 under Dr. M. S. Davenport, of Walsbville, Illinois. After
completing the usual course under competent instruction he became a
practitioner in partnership with his preceptor at Walshville, and from the
beginning showed an interest in his vocation which indicated a special
aptitude for the healing art. In 1869 he removed to Wayne county, Missouri,
where he practiced until the fall of 1874. He then entered the College of
Physicians and Surgeons at Keokuk, Iowa, graduating from that noted
institution in February, 1875. Immediately after leaving college he came to
Macoupin county and located in the village of Hornsby, where he soon
acquired a good patronage. After the death of Dr. Floyd, a prominent
physician and Mason of Gillespie, in 1878, Dr. Gross was urgently solicited
by a number of business men and citizens to take up his permanent residence
in Gillespie and, accordingly, he removed to this place July 10, 1878,
having ever since engaged in active practice here. For the past fifteen
years, notwithstanding the demands of his profession, he has made a special
study of electrical science and is confirmed in the belief that it is
possible to extract electricity from the earth. Several years ago he was
invited to Blackburn University to lecture on electrical science, and he has
gained wide recognition among students of electricity as an original
investigator. He is also deeply versed in chemistry and takes a great
interest in astrology. He has made many interesting observations and
discoveries in the laws of nature of which he may at the proper time make
announcement to the world.
In April, 1867, Dr. Gross was married to
Miss Mary C. Sitton, of Walshville, and hy this union five children were
born, namely: Sarah S., who is the wife of Milton Mitchell, a farmer of
Macoupin county; Martha F., who married Fred Opie, engineer of mine No. 1,
Gillespie; E. Guy, who was educated at Blackburn University and is now
engaged in the brokerage business at St. Louis; Herbert A., a graduate of
the Gillespie public schools, who is now identified with the St. Louis
Refrigerating & Cold Storage Company, being practically at the head of that
business; and Dean I., at home.
Dr. Gross was called upon to mourn
the loss of his beloved wife April 16, 1906. She was a woman possessed of
many rare qualities of mind and heart, and her death was deeply regretted by
the entire community. She was a valued member of the Baptist church, with
which her husband is also connected.
Politically the Doctor is
identified with the republican party and, although he has never sought
public office, he served with marked ability as a member of the school board
for a number of years. He is a member of Gillespie Lodge, No. 214, A. F. &
A. M., and also of the Order of the Eastern Star, with which his wife was
connected. He has a host of friends throughout Macoupin county and stands
very high among his professional brethren, having been for many years a
member of the state and county medical societies. He served in 1907 as
president of the Macoupin County Medical Society. In his various duties as a
professional man and private citizen Dr. Gross has shown an unusual capacity
and ranks as one of the leaders whose efforts are always directed toward the
upbuilding of the best interests of his fellowmen.
Extracted 14 Nov 2018 by Norma Hass from History of Macoupin County, Illinois: Biographical and Pictorial, by Charles A. Walker, published in 1911, Volume 2, pages 268-270.
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