BIOGRAPHY - M. GLEASON
Rev. Father M. M. Gleason, priest in charge of Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic church at Gibson City, was born in Boston in 1872, and was educated in the public and private schools, completing a classical course in Boston College of the Jesuit Fathers in 1894. Having prepared for the priesthood and taken holy orders, Father Gleason came to Gibson City in 1900 as pastor of the church of Our Lady of Lourdes and has built up a fair congregation. The house of worship is one of the attractive little churches of the county, and the church work has been well organized in all departments.
Father Gleason has charge of the Catholic parishioners at Melvin and Roberts, making regular trips to those towns and looking after the spiritual welfare of his people. He is a man of literary tastes and scholarly habits and his studies and labors are continually promoting his efficiency. He has now served for seven years in this pastorate. The church was erected twenty-seven years ago, and the first resident pastor was Father Barry, who remained here for three years and was succeeded by Father Kelly, while later Father Cannon, now of Urbana, then had charge. The church was built by the congregation and is self-sustaining. Father Gleason is much beloved by his flock, who come to him with matters of temporal as well as spiritual guidance, and find in him a friend and helper.
Extracted 16 Oct 2016 by Norma Hass from History of Ford County, Illinois, From Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, author E. A. Gardner, Volume 2, pages 667-668.
