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History of Adair
County, Iowa, 1915.

Biographical.  Volume 2.

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H. A. Gilbert.

H. A. Gilbert was formerly engaged in the fire-insurance business in Greenfield but is now living retired here.  He was born in Delaware county, New York, October 3, 1842, and is a son of Harvey and Harriet (McCoy) Gilbert, natives respectively of Massachusetts and Connecticut.  In 1849 the father left New York and went to California, where he passed away four years later.  His widow survived him and spent her last days in Michigan.  Three of their seven children are still living.

H. A. Gilbert remained under the parental roof until the existence of the Union was threatened and then in 1861 enlisted in Company E, Sixty-first New York Volunteer Infantry, as a private and served for one year.  At the end of that time he was honorably discharged for disability as he had suffered the loss of one eye.  He participated in a number of important engagements, including the battle of Fair Oaks and the seven days retreat from Malvern Hill, during which time the Union forces were on the march during the day and fighting at night.  He was discharged at Newark, New Jersey, and subsequently went to Michigan, where he remained for a year.  After that he removed to Missouri but not long afterward made his way to Denver, Colorado, driving a herd of cattle and horses with the assistance of two brothers.  He remained in Colorado until fall and then returned to New York state but only resided there a short time, after which he spent another year in Michigan and a short time in Missouri.

Coming to Adair county, Iowa, in 1866, Mr. Gilbert purchased a farm in Greenfield township, which he operated for a year, when he sold the place, and in the fall of 1868 went back to the Empire state, where his marriage occurred.  The following February he brought his wife to this county and erected a residence in Greenfield, where he has since lived.  He also purchased a farm in Lee township which he still owns, comprising one hundred and sixty acres, and he holds title to four town lots here besides his home place.  For many years he was successfully engaged in the fire-insurance business, writing a large number of policies annually, but in 1912 he retired, feeling that he had earned a period of rest and leisure.

The marriage of Mr. Gilbert and Miss Frances Goodrich was solemnized on the 6th of January, 1869.  She was born in the Empire state and is a daughter of Allen and Hannah (Moore) Goodrich, both likewise natives of New York, where they lived and died.  To Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert have been born four children:  Georgie Elizabeth, now the wife of A. A. Taylor, of Stuart, Iowa;  Mamie J., deceased;  Nina, at home;  and Rockwell, deceased.

Mr. Gilbert cast his first vote for Abraham Lincoln but subsequently gave his allegiance to the democratic party, which he still supports.  He has served as assessor of Greenfield and has also been a member of the city council, in which capacity he helped to draft the first city ordinance.  He is the oldest member of Lodge No. 375, I. O. O. F., in which he has filled all of the  chairs, and he is also a charter member of the Grand Army post at Greenfield, with which he is still identified.  His wife is a devout member of the Presbyterian church, in the work of which she takes an active and helpful interest.  Mr. Gilbert's energy and wise management of affairs while actively engaged in business enabled him to accumulate a  competence which he is now enjoying at his leisure.  He has resided in Greenfield for many years and the sterling worth of his character is attested by the fact that those who have been most intimately associated with him hold him in the warmest regard.

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