Born near Quitman, Mississippi, Gillespie attended private schools and was graduated from Mansfield College, Texas in 1885.
It is called the "Camellia City" as the tree grows in profusion around the area.
Later, the name was changed to Quitman in honor of John A. Quitman, a former governor of Mississippi and war hero in the Mexican-American War.
He learned the printing trade after graduating from high school, was editor of the Quitman, (Mo.) Record (1895–96) and associate editor of the Maryville, (Mo.) Tribune (1896–1900); from 1900 to 1904 was a reporter, and later editorial writer, on the Kansas City Journal, and in 1904-07 was connected with the Chicago Tribune as railroad editor and editorial writer.
Quitman | Quitman, Missouri | John A. Quitman | Quitman, Mississippi | Quitman High School | Bobo, Quitman County, Mississippi |
Bobo, Quitman County, Mississippi, an unincorporated community in Quitman County, Mississippi
Honorary pallbearers included current State Senator Neil Riser, a mortician from Columbia in Caldwell Parish, former Senator Randy Ewing of Quitman in Jackson Parish, and Farmerville Mayor Stein Baughman.
It consists of 27,690 acres (112 km²), situated in Wood and Rains County in Northeast Texas, between the towns of Quitman, Alba, Emory, and Yantis, Texas.
He graduated from Quitman High School in 1986, where he was selected Mr. Quitman High School and lettered in six sports.
On July 24, 1969, federal judge William Keady found that Quitman County school officials were maintaining an unconstitutional de jure racially segregated school system, placing the school board under the supervision of United States District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi.