G. T. Belding, born in 1841 in Richmond, Wisconsin, was a prominent attorney in Pawnee City, Nebraska, starting in 1870. Son of Elijah Belding, Jr., and Mary James, he served in the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry during the Civil War, enduring 25 days as a prisoner in Libby Prison. After the war, he married Cetta M. Jones in 1865 and moved to Pawnee City in 1870. Elected county judge in 1879, he served for 20 years before practicing law. Belding managed several estates and represented various clients, establishing himself as a leading figure in Pawnee County’s legal community.
G. T. Belding, attorney-at-law at Pawnee City, Nebraska, and one of the prominent men of Pawnee City, settled in this locality in 1870. He was born at Richmond, Walworth County, Wisconsin, in 1841, and is a son of Elijah Belding, Jr., who settled in Walworth County in 1836. Elijah Belding was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and was a son of Elijah Belding, Sr., of Massachusetts. The Belding family settled in Massachusetts and Connecticut in 1730. Elijah, Sr., died in Marquette County, Wisconsin, in 1852. His wife bore the maiden name of Miss Pease. Elijah, Jr., was reared and educated in the East and married Mary James, who was a native of Rhode Island and a daughter of Thomas and Dorcas (Perry) James, of Welsh ancestry. Both died in Walworth County, Wisconsin. In politics, Elijah Belding, Jr., was first a Whig and later a Republican. Elijah, Jr., died in 1882 and his wife is still living and makes her home in Pawnee City with our subject. She has attained the venerable age of eighty-one years. She is a member of the Baptist church. Eleven children were born to herself and husband, namely: G. T.; Mary E., deceased; Emily D., of Delavan, Wisconsin; Eugene M., of Minnesota; Elvira, deceased; Mary E., of St. Paul; Frances H., deceased; Charles F., of St. Charles, Missouri; Lulu Tumey, who lives at Camden, Arkansas; Bertha, died at the age of sixteen years; and one who died in infancy.
Mr. G. T. Belding was reared in Walworth County on a farm, where he remained until 1862, and was a school teacher from 1858. He enlisted August 12, 1862, in the Twenty-second Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, Company D, serving three years, Colonel Utleys and Captain A. D. Kellam in command. Our subject was attached to the Twentieth Army Corps in General Ward’s Third Division, participating in the famous march to the sea. He was mustered out of service at Milwaukee, Wisconsin, June 29, 1865. Mr. Belding was taken prisoner at Spring Hill, Tennessee, and held twenty-five days in Libby prison, suffering many privations. When he returned to his old home at Delavan, Wisconsin, he married Miss Cetta M. Jones, of the same place in October 1865, and for several years remained in the county of his birth.
In 1870 he located at Pawnee City, Nebraska; was elected county judge in 1879 and for twenty years served as county judge of Pawnee County, since which time he has been engaged in the practice of law. During his practice, he has been the attorney for several estates and served as attorney for various parties outside the state; in all demonstrating his ability and shrewdness as a lawyer. Ever since locating in Pawnee County Mr. Belding has made many friends, and he is justly regarded as one of the leading representatives of the bar of this locality.
Source: Edwards, Lewis C., History of Richardson County, Nebraska : Its People, Industries and Institutions, Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen, 1917.