Convention Member George Gillaspy

Convention Member
Democrat
Born July 15, 1814 in Kentucky. His family moved to Indiana, where George grew up. Mr. Gillaspy then moved to Marion County, Iowa. He married Eleanor T. (Lang) Koons in 1847 and then moved to Ottumwa, Iowa. He was the first mayor of Ottumwa. Mr. Gillaspy was a delegate to the Iowa State Constitutional Convention from the Eighth District, 1857. He helped buy the land around an abandoned Fort Dodge that opened it to a settlement. He ran for Lieutenant Governor of Iowa in 1857, but lost. He also ran for Governor of Iowa in 1869, but he also lost that election. He was also very prominent in the pork packing business in Ottumwa. He died on January 30, 1875 in Ottumwa, and is buried in the Ottumwa cemetery.