The enterprise of the subject has been crowned by success, as the result
of rightly applied principles which never fail in their ultimate effect when
coupled with integrity, uprightness and a congenial disposition, as they
have been done in the present instance, judging from the high standing of
Mr. Trenary among his fellow citizens whose undivided esteem he has justly
won and retained.
G. H. Trenary, the influential and popular
superintendent of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Company, with
offices at Salem, Illinois, was born February 9, 1867, at Lafayette,
Indiana, the son of Randolph B. Trenary, a native of Ohio who came to
Indiana when a boy. He was a locomotive engineer, having run an engine
during the Civil war and he followed this profession all his life, becoming
one of the best known railroad men in his community. He died in February,
1904, at Stone Bluff, Indiana. The mother of the subject was known in her
maidenhood as Mollie Norduft, a native of Williamsport, Indiana, and the
representative of a well-known and highly respected family there. She passed
to her rest in 1873. They were the parents of four children, three boys and
one girl, namely: Charles W., of Kansas City, Missouri; G. H., the subject
of this sketch; Evendar H., who died in 1888; Elizabeth, the wife of Charles
Mallett, of Stone Bluff, Indiana.
Our subject attended the common
schools at Urbana, Illinois, leaving school when in the eighth grade for the
purpose of beginning the study of telegraphy at Urbana. Becoming an exeprt
at this exacting profession he followed it together with that of agent at
various stations for thirteen years with great satisfaction to his employers
who regarded him as one of the most efficient and reliable men in this line
of work in their employ. He spent four years at Ogden, Illinois; one year at
Urbana, one year at Waynetown, Indiana; one year at Champaign, Illinois; two
years at LeRoy, Illinois; three years at Veedersburg, Indiana; one year at
Hoopestown, Illinois. From 1896 to 1899 he was chief clerk to the general
superintendent of the Chicago & Eastern Illinois Railroad Company at
Chicago. For five years our subject held the responsible' position of
superintendent at Brazil, Indiana, from 1899 to 1904, since which time he
has been superintendent of the Illinois division of the Chicago & Eastern
Illinois road, with headquarters at Salem. The offices of this road were
located here in December, 1906, having been removed from St. Elmo, this
state. This road employs about five hundred people in all departments. The
local offices occupy the entire third floor of the Salem State Bank building
and is the busiest place in Salem. Mr. Trenary's private office is also on
this floor. Everything is under a splendid system.
Mr. Trenary has
jurisdiction over all transportation, a very responsible position, indeed,
and one that not only requires a superior talent along executive lines, but
a clear brain, sound judgment and steady habits, but he has performed his
duties so well that the company deems his services indispensable. This road
has a departmental division system.
Our subject was happily married
in December, 1884, to Beulah R. Glascock, the refined and accomplished
daughter of H. J. Glascock, an influential and highly respected citizen of
Ogden, Illinois.
The commodious, modern, cheerful and model home of
the subject and wife has been blessed through the birth of the six children
whose names and dates of birth follow in consecutive order: G. W., born
April 12, 1886, lives in Salem; Nell, born December 30, 1887; Genevieve F.,
born March 1, 1893; Robert F., born October 22, 1895; H. Kenneth, born
January 29, 1901; Randolph Bryant, born January 26, 1904.
These
children have received every care and attention, been given good educations
and each gives promise of bright and successful futures, exemplifying in
their daily lives what a wholesome home environment and careful parental
training can do in developing well rounded and highly cultivated minds and
bodies.
Mr. Trenary moved his family to Salem in December 1906. He
has been honored by being chosen alderman for the city of Salem. Although a
loyal Republican and well-fortified in his political beliefs and anxious to
see the triumph of his party's principles, Mr. Trenary has never aspired to
positions of public trust at the hands of his fellow voters. However, his
support can always be depended upon in the advancement of all movements
looking to the public weal in his community whether educational, moral or
civic.
In his fraternal relations, the subject is a member of the
Masonic Order and the Modern Woodmen, and one would soon conclude by a
knowledge of his consistent and gentlemanly daily life that he believed in
carrying out the sublime precepts of these commendable organizations. Both
Mr. and Mrs. Trenary are members of the Christian church. They are pleasant
people to meet, and their cozy home is often the mecca for numerous admiring
friends who seek the cheerfulness and hospitality so freely and unstintingly
dispensed here. No better or more popular people are to be found in Marion
county and they justly deserve the high esteem in which they are held.
Extracted 03 Nov 2017 by Norma Hass from 1909 Biographical and Reminiscent History of Richland, Clay and Marion Counties, Illinois, pages 89-91.