GEORGE W. ENDICOTT, farmer and fruit grower, P. O. Villa Ridge, whose portrait appears in this volume, was born in Belmont County, Ohio, July 25, 1839, and is a son of Charles and Lucinda (Snedeker) Endicott. She was born in Loudoun County, Va., August 15, 1819, and he in Berks County, Penn., August 16, 1813. The Endicott family are all descended from old Gov. Endicott, of Massachusetts, and his brother, Mark Endicott. Many of them were soldiers, and those who were not able to bear arms, attained considerable note as horticulturists. Mark Endicott planted the Endicott pears at Salem, Mass., which are still fruiting, after two hundred and fifty years. The grandfather of our subject, and all his brothers, served in the United States Navy, and he and two brothers were in our war with Tripoli, under Commodore Decatur. He afterward settled in Pennsylvania, and devoted his attention to horticulture, but some years later moved to Ohio, and was one of the first men to plant out a grafted orchard, and to introduce the science of grafting fruit in that State. Charles Endicott followed in the footsteps of his father, and was a farmer and fruit-grower; his health being delicate he was refused admission into the army during our war with Mexico. He continued a resident of Ohio until 1864, when he came to Illinois, and died soon after (September 18, 1864), at the home of his son (our subject) in this county. His wife died May 29, 1864. They were the parents of four sons and two daughters; two of the sons and one daughter died in childhood. The other brother of our subject served in the late civil war, and returned home just in time to die from exposure while performing his duty as a soldier. He was one of the command sent to spike the enemy's cannon at Island No. 10, and took cold from which he never recovered. Our subject's only living sister, Mrs. N. W. Galbraith, resides in Wayne County, Ill. Mr. Endicott (subject) had but few educational advantages. At the age of seventeen years, he went on the river for the purpose of learning the duties of a pilot, and was engaged on a steamboat running between Cincinnati and Pittsburgh; but disliking river life, he left it, and September 15, 1861, he enlisted in Company I, of the Forty-eighth Illinois Volunteer Infantry, in which he served for two years and ten months, and then was discharged on account of wounds received. He was at Fort Henry, Fort Donelson, Shiloh, Corinth, Vicksburg, Arkansas Post, Black River Bridge, Chickamauga, Lookout Mountain, and with Sherman in his "march to the sea;" participating in forty-six battles and skirmishes, and receiving twelve wounds; he still carries rebel lead in his body. After returning from the army he settled down to farming in Wayne County, Ill., and continued there until December 25, 1867, when he removed to this county, and began the improvement of his present farm, which was then all in the woods. He has since been engaged extensively in horticulture, and is one of the most successful fruit-growers in Pulaski County. His farm consists of 140 acres, in a good state of cultivation and with excellent farm buildings and improvements. He has fifty-five acres in fruits, as follows: Seven and a half acres in vineyard; twenty-three acres in peaches; thirteen in strawberries; three in Bartlett pears; four in apples, etc. He has been very successful in all his fruit-raising, except with apples, which have not paid in a commercial point of view. Mr. Endicott is a good writer and has contributed some excellent articles on horticulture, his best effort, perhaps, being the chapter in this work devoted to agriculture and horticulture of Pulaski County. He was married April 29, 1863, to Miss Martha Galbraith, of Wayne County, Ill., born April 9, 1841, and a daughter of Wiley and Elizabeth Galbraith. Mr. and Mrs. Endicott have seven children, four boys and three girls, viz.: Ed C., Louis E., Charles W., Georgianna, Maud, Mary and Robert B. Mr. Endicott is a member of the Villa Ridge Grange, and in politics, is perfectly independent, supporting the men he deems best fitted for the offices they seek.
Extracted 02 Nov 2014 by Norma Hass from 1883 History of Alexander, Union and Pulaski Counties, Illinois, Part V - Biographical Sketches, pages 285-286.
| Union | Johnson | |
| Alexander |
 |
Massac McCracken KY |
| Ballard KY |
