Marion County
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Biography - G. H. TRENARY

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.