Kate’s notes: This short biography was compiled shortly before John Young “Cap” Gilliland’s marriage to Nettie Kelly, by whom he had two sons, Royce Fraser and Marvin Louis.
Additional genealogical information on this family may be found at the following sites:
http://www.genealogymagazine.com/jeeligi.html
http://freepages.genealogy.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~clearcreek/gilliland_john-t.html

HISTORICAL
AND
BIOGRAPHICAL
RECORD
OF THE
CATTLE INDUSTRY
AND THE
CATTLEMEN OF TEXAS
AND ADJACENT TERRITORY

PUBLISHED BY
 WOODWARD AND TIERNAN PRINTING CO.,

SAINT LOUIS
1895

J. Y. GILLILAND.

Mr. GILLILAND has gained distinction as a breeder of high grade cattle, and for improved methods of cattle raising. He was born at Tarrant County, Texas, 1858, resides at Baird, and is unmarried.
    His father, J. T. Gilliland, was of Irish descent, born in Tennessee in 1822. He married Rebecca Monteith, of the same ancestry, born in Tennessee in 1828. They were married in Van Zandt County, Texas, in 1848. To them were born ten children, J. Y. being the fifth. Five still survive, four of whom are married.
    After his father’s death he lived with and cared for his mother until her death, which took place June 5, 1894, in the sixty-sixth year of her age. She had reared her children carefully, and lived to see them all settled and comfortably established in life.
    His educational advantages were limited, and, after his father’s death, he, in conjunction with his brother W. L., undertook cattle raising. They now have on hand about 2,000 steers, and always havwe a large number ready for the market, and are large buyers and feeders, having 10,000 acres of deeded land. A part of this they cultivate for the purpose of raising feed for their stock, and do not depend exclusively upon grass. The have what is considered one of the finest ranches in the State, located twenty-three miles south of Baird. During the seasons of drought they have been crippled to some extent, but not enough to seriously impair their business, owing to the fact that they raise additional feed.
    MR. GILLILAND is one of the representative men of his county, having resided within its borders for twenty years, and has seen it grow to its present advanced state from an undeveloped wilderness. He is improving his stock by introducing and acclimating the Hereford breed, preferring this strain because of its quick growth. MR. GILLILAND is noted as a careful, conservative buyer, and combines a thorough knowledge of the industry with unusually good judgment. He is a skilled judge of marks and brands, and is able to estimate by the eye the probable weight of cattle offered for sale at range delivery. He stands up well among the prominent cattlemen of the Southwest.

-transcription by Kate Maynard, 2102