Frank N. Gilmore. The financial standing of Hope, in Steele county, North Dakota, has been materially increased by the labors of this gentleman since taking up his residence here. He was one of the five original business men of the city, and has always taken an active part in affairs of a public or social nature. He is the possessor of a fine farm near the city, and is a resident of Hope, wherein he is the manager of the lumber yards of the Beidler & Robinson Lumber Company.
Our subject was born in Monroe county, Maine, January 4, 1855. His grandparents on the father's side were from Scotland and England, and were early settlers of Monroe county, Maine, where they followed farming. Our subject and an older sister were the only children born to Josiah and Rosella (Nichols) Gilmore, and our subject is now the only survivor of the family. The father was a general merchant in the town of Monroe, and he died when our subject was but one year of age, after which the mother and two children made their home with the maternal grandparents, and resided in Davenport, Iowa. After about two years they returned to a farm, and there our subject remained until about seventeen years of age. He then learned the manufacture of sand-paper in Melrose, Massachusetts, and when about twenty-five years of age learned telegraphy and was employed with the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific railroad. He joined a Northern Pacific surveying party in the spring of 1882, and traveled through Montana, and in the fall of that year began work for the company with which he is now engaged, at Portland, Traill county. North Dakota, and in the spring of 1883 was placed in charge of the yards at Hope. He is a successful business man, and has gained the confidence of his employers and associates. He is the owner of one half-section of land, and has gained a comfortable competence by earnest efforts.
Our subject was married, in 1886, to Miss Lela Johnson. Two children were born to Mr. and Mrs. Gilmore, as follows: Frank W. and Eileen V. Mrs. Gilmore was born in Illinois, October 4, 1860, and she died in North Dakota, October 14, 1898. She was a lady who was mourned by a host of friends, and was a member of the Congregational church, and an earnest worker in the same, and she was also a member of the Daughters of Rebekah. Mr. Gilmore is prominent in the fraternal world and is a thirty-second-degree Mason, and a member of the Mystic Shrine, and the Independent Order of Odd Fellows. In the last-named order he has served as grand treasurer for five years, and he was a charter member and the first noble grand of Hope Lodge, No. 19, which was organized August 25, 1885. He also holds membership in the brotherhood of American Yeomen. In political faith Mr. Gilmore is a Republican.
Source: Compendium of History and Biography of North Dakota 1900 Page 283