Springfield State Capital clipping

Hon. G. W. Gayles, Republican representative of Bolivar county, is among the most prominent Republicans in the state, and also an able minister, his influence among his people extending all over the state. He was born in Wilkinson county, Miss., June 29, 1844, and was educated by Miss Elizabeth Powell, of New York and Mrs. E. W. Bedon, his owner before the war. He was ordained in Greenville, Miss., in 1867, and has been president of the Mississippi Baptist state convention since 1876, and that body has a membership of over 150,000. After holding numerous minor offices in Bolivar county, Mr. Gayles was first elected to the legislature in 1870, serving two terms in the lower house. In 1877 he was elected state senator, representing the Twenty-eighth senatorial district, comprising the counties of Bolivar, Coahoma and Quitman, which position he held for twelve years. He is the only republican in the state holding a commemorating medal of the thirty-six ballots of the "Old Guard," for General Grant for president at the national convention held at Chicago in 1880, and he is highly esteemed and respected by all classes.