Frederick Gillings, a veteran of the Civil war and a prosperous farmer of Atlas township, living on section 6, where he owns two hundred acres of rich and productive land, was born in London, England, August 19, 1837, and acquired his education in the schools of that city. His parents were George and Mary (Beckem) Gillings. The former was a plasterer by trade and followed that occupation throughout his entire life. Unto him and his wife were born three children, two sons and a daughter, of whom George and Mary are both deceased, leaving Frederick as the only surviving member of the family, and outside of his own immediate family he has no relatives in America. The father died in London in June, 1867, and his wife passed away a few years later. Prior to his parents' death, when a youth of fourteen years, Frederick Gillings ran away from home, being possessed of an ardent desire to go to sea, and shipped as a cabin boy aboard her majesty's gunboat Rattlesnake, with which he cruised in the Black and Baltic seas during the Crimean war, spending eight months in that way. He then returned with the vessel and landed at Wolwich on the River Thames and his father paid a sum of money to secure his release. He then returned to his father's home, where he remained for a short time, when he again ran away and embarked on a sailing vessel bound for America, crossing in the steerage. He landed in New York city after a tempestuous voyage of one month and was without a dollar in a strange land where he had neither friends nor relatives. After passing through quarantine at Castle Garden he finally secured a position as waiter in the St. Nicholas Hotel in New York city, occupying that position for eight months. He next went to Lyons, Wayne county, New York, where he secured employment as a farm hand on the farm of Silas Patten, where he remained for a year, receiving eight dollars per month and his board. He afterward went to Rochester, New York, where he engaged in making plaster of Paris casts, the knowledge of which he had gained while with his father. He continued in that line of business for a year, after which he came westward to Chicago, where he continued in the same business for about four months. He afterward walked to Rock Island, Illinois, where he spent the succeeding winter, and engaged in the manufacture of plaster of Paris casts. Later he made his way to St. Louis, Missouri, where he was employed in a similar way for eight months and afterward in Cincinnati, Ohio, for a year.

He then went to Monroe, Butler county, Ohio, where he worked as a plasterer until the breaking out of the Civil war. In April, 1861, Mr. Gillings enlisted as a member of Company B, First Ohio Volunteer Infantry, and with his company went to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where they were fitted out with uniforms, being there mustered in for three months' service. He participated in the first battle of Bull Run, where the Union arms suffered defeat, after which his regiment retreated to Washington and was there mustered out of service on account of the expiration of their term in July, 1861. Mr. Gillings returned to Monroe, Ohio, where he worked at his trade until the 23d of August, 1862, when he relisted for three years' service in Company A, Seventy-ninth Ohio Volunteer Infantry. He was mustered into the United States service as a corporal at Frankfort, Kentucky, to serve for three years and was discharged with the rank of sergeant at Cincinnati, Ohio, on a surgeon's certificate of disability, on the 19th of April, 1864. In the meantime he had participated in the hotly contested engagement at Perryville, Kentucky, and in the skirmish at Frankfort, after which he marched with his regiment to Bowling Green, Kentucky, where General Buell was superseded in command by General Rosecrans of the Army of the Tennessee. With his regiment he then marched to Scottsville, Kentucky, where they had a skirmish with the enemy. They afterward proceeded to Gallatin, Missouri, where they remained for about three months, during which time Mr. Gillings served on detached duty. Leaving Gallatin he was ordered to join his regiment at Nashville, Tennessee, where the Seventy-ninth Ohio was guarding a bridge for about six weeks and also did guard duty in the city. The troops then marched to Laverne, Tennessee, where they built a fort, remaining there until the battle of Stone River, in which Mr. Gillings participated and was wounded. He was then sent to the Union hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, where he remained for one month, when he was detailed with eight others to go to Ohio on recruiting service. He was again obliged to enter the hospital at Nashville on account of his wound, remaining there for about two months, after which he rejoined his regiment and took part in the battles of Resaca, Peach Tree Creek and Wahatchie in Georgia. This was in the latter part of 1864. The regiment then marched on to Washington, D. C., was reviewed there and sent to Camp Dennison, Ohio, where its members were mustered out of service and finally discharged on the 8th of July, 1865, but in the meantime Mr. Gillings, as before stated, had been mustered out on account of disability.

When his military service was ended Mr. Gillings returned to Monroe, Ohio, and on the 12th of October, 1864, he married Miss Anna Maud, a daughter of John and Hannah Maud. Her parents were born in Yorkshire, England, and Mrs. Gillings was the youngest of a family of four sons and four daughters, namely: George, William, John, Richard, Elizabeth, Mary, Harriet and Anna. Of these three daughters are living, but the sons are all deceased. Unto Mr. and Mrs. Gillings have been born eleven children: Edward, who was born August 19, 1865, and married Ruth Miller, of Rockport; Daisy Maud, who was born October 4, 1867, and is now the wife of Alonzo Lyons; William, who was born June 6, 1872, and married Ettie Enzer; Nettie, who was born July 19, 1874, and is the wife of Walter Scott; Martha, who was born October 15, 1876, and died March 14, 1897, her remains being interred in the new cemetery at Barry, Illinois; Amy, who was born August 26, 1878, and is the wife of Richard Francis; Nina, who was born April 10, 1881, and married Stephen Williams; Drucilla, who was born October 23, 1884, and is the wife of Jesse Williams; Fred, born August 31,1886; Harry, who was born May 24, 1889; and Mary, who was born May 14, 1888, and died May 2, 1889, her remains being interred in the Taylor cemetery in Eldara, Derry township. The eldest daughter, Martha, who has passed away, was the wife of Alvin Lippincott, and her remains were interred in the new cemetery at Barry.

In the year 1870, Mr. Gillings removed with his family to Kansas City, Missouri, where he worked at his trade for two years. He then engaged in farming for one season in Cass county, Missouri, after which he journeyed on horseback to Barry, Illinois, a distance of three hundred miles, remaining at that locality during the summer. He then returned to Cass county on horseback, after which he made a second trip to Barry in the same manner, and finally settled upon his present farm near Rockport, where he has now made his home for twenty-one years. He has here two hundred acres of good pasture land on section 6, Atlas township. Mr. Gillings is a charter member of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows at Atlas, and belongs to the Modern Woodmen camp at Rockport. He is also a member of Samuel Hays post, G. A. R., at Summer Hill. His political allegiance is given to the Republican Party. He was elected constable of Atlas township in April, 1887, and served for one term. Later he was reelected to fill a vacancy, serving until May, 1893. He was elected and served for nearly three years as school director of Atlas township, and in 1904 was elected road commissioner, so that he is the present incumbent in that office. All that he possesses in life has been acquired through his own labors, for he started out when a young lad empty-handed, and, in fact, from a very early age depended entirely upon his own resources. He proved his loyalty to his adopted country in the Civil war; and is one of the valued residents of Atlas township, for in days of peace he is as loyal to his country as when he followed the old flag upon southern battlefields.

Contributed by Kathy Robinson - Past and Present of Pike County, Page 639-641