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BIOGRAPHIES
* Source:
Commemorative Biographical Records
of the
Counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio
Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co.
1896
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L. F.
GAHN, M. D., who is successfully and extensively
engaged in the practice of medicine in Elmore, Ottawa
county, and who is prominently identified with the
interests of the town, was born Jan. 15, 1849, in
Columbus, Ohio, and is a son of Rev. C. and Margaret
(Artz) Gahn.
Rev. C. Gahn was born in Prussia, in 1818, and
spent fifty-seven years of his life in the ministry,
becoming prominent in the M. E. Church. He held
some of the best appointments in the State of Ohio, was
located in Cincinnati for six years, was presiding elder
of the Cincinnati district for four years, and then
again served as pastor in that city for a number of
years. He then retired to his farm in Sandusky
county, where he died at the age of seventy-five.
His wife was also born in Prussia, and their marriage
was celebrated in 1836. To then were born six
children, five of whom are living. The ancestors
of the family were originally Scotch, and lived on the
Isle of Man.
The Doctor accompanied his parents on their various
removals during his childhood, and completed his
literary education in Cincinnati. In 1871 he began
the study of medicine in the University of Michigan,
where he remained one year, thence going to the Medical
College of Cincinnati, from which he graduated in 873.
On completing his studies he located in Elmore, Ohio,
where he has lived for the past twenty-one years, one of
its most honored and esteemed residents. The
doctor was for two years mayor of the town, was
president of the board of education for three years, and
a member of the village council for two years, and has
always been prominent and active in support of all
interests that are calculated to advance the general
welfare. In his political views he is a
Republican; in religious faith he is an adherent of the
Methodist Episcopal Church. The Doctor has met
with excellent success in his profession, and for
several years has given special attention to chronic
diseases, having a very extensive office practice.
He spends Monday of each week in his office at Elmore,
and the remainder of the time in his office at No. 625
Adams street, Toledo, where he has a very large
patronage.
The Doctor married Miss Ettie Knight, who was
born in Port Clinton, Ohio, in 1848, and who, for
several years prior to her marriage, successfully
engaged in teaching in Elmore. Three children have
come to them - Grace, born Nov. 26, 1876;
Harry, born Apr. 26, 1881; and Lloyd, born
Aug. 27, 1883. The daughter graduated from the
Elmore high school in 1893, and is now one of the
promising teachers of Ottawa county, having taught in
Harris township for two years with marked success.
The other children are now pursuing their studies in the
Elmore public schools. The family is one widely
and favorable known in the county, and the Doctor and
his wife have a wide circle of warm friends.
* Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the
Counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio: Chicago: J. H.
Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 757 |
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GEORGE W. GALLANT,
an enterprising and wide-awake business man of Elmore,
where he is engaged in the manufacture of doors, sash
and blinds, was born in Bay township, Ottawa, Ottawa
county, Jan. 15, 1842, and is the only known living
representative of the family of seven children born to
John and Eleanor (Deselms) Gallant, the
former a native of Baltimore, Md., the latter of
Belmont, Ohio. The parents located in Bay township
at an early date in the history of the county, but in
1863 removed to Sandusky, Ohio, where the following year
the father's death occurred; later, the mother came to
Elmore, where she passed away in 1884.
In the district schools of Bay township, George W.
Gallant acquired a limited education, but his
instruction in the duties of farm life was not so
meagre, and he continued to follow that honorable
occupation until 1862, when he enlisted in Company G,
One Hundredth Regiment, O. V. I. On May 4, 1864,
he was wounded at the battle of Resaca, Ga., and
sent to the hospital at Chattanooga, Tenn., from which
place he was transferred to Knoxville. After
becoming convalescent he rejoined his regiment at Fort
Fisher, and later was ordered to David's Island, N. Y.
On the close of hospitalities he received an honorable
discharge, and returned to Jackson township, Sandusky
county, where he engaged in agricultural pursuits until
1873. On the first of January of that year
he removed to Elmore, and since that date has
continuously carried on his present business with marked
success, having now secured a liberal and lucrative
trade.
At Jackson, Ohio, Oct. 22, 1865, Mr. Gallant
wedded Miss Nancy Huffman, who was born in
Fremont, this State, July 1, 1846, a daughter of
Michael and Nancy (Nye) Huffman, the former now
deceased, the latter still a resident of Fremont.
Mrs. Gallant is one of a family of ten children,
eight of whom still survive: Washington, who makes his
home in Battle Creek, Mich.; Michael, living in
Fremont; Ellen, wife of Henry Hiller, of
Hillsdale, Mich.; William H., a resident of
Hastings; Mrs. Gallant, the next in order of
birth; May Etta, widow of the late Andrew
Whitemore, residing in Fremont; Charles Luther,
living in Hastings, Mich.; and Elizabeth A., now
the widow of Louis Benner, and making her home in
Fremont.
Five children have come to bless the union of Mr.
and Mrs. Gallant, as follows: Charles M.,
born Apr. 25, 1867; Lillie Jane, born Mar. 19,
1869, now the wife John F. Sanders, of Elmore;
James W., born Feb. 7, 1871; Edward E. born
July 21, 1885; and Bertha Belle, born June 1,
1887. Of these Charles M., whose education
was begun in the public schools of Elmore, completed a
course in the North American Normal School of Fostoria,
Ohio, graduation from that institution in 1887. He
then took up the study of mechanical engineering at Salt
Lake City, Utah, and for four years was a locomotive
engineer on the Rio Grande & Western railroad. At
the expiration of that time he returned from Elmore, and
engaged with his father as bookkeeper. At the
present time, however, he is engaged in the manufacture
of a patent clothes rack, on connection with his brother
James. On Jan. 15, 1895, in Elmore, he
married Miss Elizabeth Hotmer, the former a
resident of Elmore, the latter being now deceased.
James W., the second son of our subject, after
completing his education in the public schools of
Elmore, learned the trade of wood turning, which
occupation he followed up to a recent date, but is now
engaged in the manufacture of a patent clothes rack.
In Toledo, Ohio, Jan. 2, 1895, he was united in marriage
with Miss Nettie Walters a daughter of Thomas
and Nettie Walters, the former of whom still makes
his home in Toledo, but the latter has departed this
life.
In his political views, George W. Gallant is an
ardent Republican, being a strong supporter of the men
and measures of that party, and he has served his
fellow-citizens as a councilman in the corporation of
Elmore for four terms. He is one of the solid and
reliable business men of the city, and in social as well
as business circles stands high, having the confidence
and esteem of all with whom he comes in contact.
With the Knights of Pythias fraternity he holds
membership, belonging to Elmore Lodge, No. 261, K. of
P., and also takes a prominent part of Robert Caldwell
Post, G. A. R.
* Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the
Counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio: Chicago: J. H.
Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 563 |
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JOHN GASSER
(deceased), who was one of the honored pioneers of
Ottawa county, was born in Berne, the capital of
Switzerland, Sept. 23, 1822, and was a son of John
and Anna Gasser, the former of whom was at one time
the governor of Switzerland.
Our subject lived in his native land until twelve years
of age, and then accompanied his parents on their
emigration to America, locating in Zanesville, Ohio.
The father soon after went to Sandusky county, where he
purchased a large tract of wild land, and there engaged
in the construction of a mill race and mill, the first
one in the county; but ere the work was completed death
suddenly ended his labors. Young John was
thus left a mere boy to fight life's battles alone.
He was bound out by his guardian to Judge
Justus, of Fremont, Ohio, to learn the trade of a
tanner and currier, being thus employed until twenty-one
years of age, during which time he thoroughly mastered
the business, becoming an expert workman, and was thus
employed until the breaking out of the Civil war.
On May 2, 1849, Mr. Gasser was united in
marriage with MISS MARY L. SHEPERD,
of Gypsum, Ohio, and in 1853 they removed to Elmore,
where Mr. Gasser resumed work at his trade.
Mrs. Gasser was born near Leesville, Tuscarawas
Co., Ohio, and in 1833, when four years of age, was
brought to Ottawa county, then an almost unbroken
wilderness; she has seen deer cross the farm in large
numbers, and all kinds of wild game abounded. She
was a resident of three counties while living in one
house. She acquired her education in Gypsum and
Fremont, and in the latter place met the gentleman whom
she married. Her father, John Sheperd,
was born in North Carolina, Feb. 13, 1783, and died Dec.
19, 1854. Her maternal grandfather was born in
Virginia, about 1766, and was a fuller by trade.
He wedded Mary Long, a highly-educated
Quaker lady, who engaged in the practice of medicine, in
those early days, in Pennsylvania and Ohio, and had been
known to ride twenty miles through the wilderness in
cases of consultation; she was very successful; her
sister was a minister of the Gospel.
To Mr. and Mrs. Gasser were born five children,
three of whom died in infancy. Louis
Edwin, who was born in Woodville, Ohio, Apr. 18,
1851, completed a course of study in the Normal School
of Tontogany, Ohio, in 1867, and was then employed on
the Lake Shore & Michigan Southern railroad until his
death, Aug. 11, 1870. Eva Luella,
the only daughter, was born May 16, 1858, on Rice street
in Elmore, and in the same house was married Feb. 27,
1879, to Henry Paffenbach, of Elmore, and in the
same house in which her two children were born; she was
educated in the public schools of Elmore, and before
reaching the age of eighteen began teaching; she also
made a special study of the piano, and later taught
music with marked success; she died Jan. 26, 1885,
leaving two children—John Edwin G. ,born Mar. 4,
1880; and Carl Henry, born Mar. 12, 1881.
All who knew her had for her only words of praise, and
her friends were many.
Mr. Gasser carried on business in Elmore
until 1864, when, on August 5, he enlisted in Company A,
One Hundred Seventy-seventh O. V. I., under Capt.
Turner. About October 1 he left Cleveland
with his regiment, and on the 6th arrived at Tullahoma,
Tenn., where, for six weeks, the troops guarded the
Nashville & Chattanooga railroad. When Hood's
army threatened Nashville, the regiment was sent to
Murfreesboro, and were there twice engaged in battle
with the Rebel forces under Gen. Forrest.
Subsequently the regiment was ordered to Spring Hill,
and assigned to the Twenty-third Army Corps. On
the march from Murfreesboro to Spring Hill John
Gasser was taken ill, but remained with his
command which went to Clifton on the Tennessee river. On
January 17, 1865, the regiment embarked on a steamer for
Cincinnati, and thence went by rail to Washington, D. C,
where it arrived January 25. On February 3, it
started for Annapolis by steamer, reaching Port Fisher
on the 9th. On the the 16th, Mr. Gasser
passed away, dying of typhoid pneumonia, and was buried
by his comrades—Baldwin, Carr and Coon.
He had patriotically given his life for his country,
which required the sacrifice of so many of the brave
sons of the nation. He was a very loyal, devoted
citizen, and in his death the community suffered a
severe loss. An earnest, temperance worker, a
devoted Christian man, he did all in his power to uplift
and benefit humanity, and had the warmest regard of all
who knew him. His family lost a faithful husband
and loving father; but the memory of his holy Christian
life still lingers and is still green in the hearts of
many friends. His widow is yet living in Elmore,
an estimable lady, both widely and favorably known.
* Source: Commemorative Biographical
Records of the Counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio:
Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co. 1896 - Page |
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SAMUEL R. GILL,
secretary of the Lakeside Company, of Lakeside, Ottawas
county, is a native of the county, born in Portage
township, Dec. 16, 1845, and is a son of William and
Martha (Payne) Gill, both native of Berkeley county,
W. Va., the father born in 1796.
In 1840 William Gill located in Portage
township, Ottawa county, where he engaged in farming
until his death which occurred Dec. 31, 1857. His
wife, who was a daughter of Jesse and Martha (Dunn)
Payne, was born Dec. 10, 1810, and her death
occurred on the old homestead in Portage township, Apr.
28, 1894. They became the parents of four children
namely: (1) Joseph, a resident of Port Clinton,
Ottawa county. (2) William, who died at
Evansville, Ind., from wounds received while serving in
the Union army as a private in Company I, Forty-first O.
V. I., in which he enlisted Sept. 6, 1861, and being
wounded at the battle of Shiloh, which was fought Apr.
6-7, 1862, he died a few days later. (3) Mary P.,
wife of Lane Lockwood, a resident of Sandusky
City, Ohio, and (4) Samuel R.
The primary education of
our subject was acquired in the district schools of
Portage township, and he completed his literary studies
at Baldwin University, Berea, Ohio, graduating from that
institution in 1869. He then engaged in
agricultural pursuits on the old homestead farm,
following that honorable occupation until 1873, when, in
January of that year, he was appointed secretary of the
Lakeside company, since when he has made his home in
Lakeside, devoting his entire attention to the duties
pertaining to the office, still retaining
possession of his farm in Portage township. He is
also a stockholder in the Lakeside Company.
In Danbury township, Ottawa county, on Jan. 12, 1875,
Mr. Gill was united in marriage with Miss Mary
C. Alexander, a daughter of David and Harriet R.
(Petit) Alexander, who in 1863, located in Danbury
township, near Marblehead, where the latter still
resides; the former passed away Dec. 23, 1894, at the
advanced age of eighty-two years. Mr. and Mrs.
Gill have three children: Robert Alexander,
born May 21, 1880; William Payne, born Feb. 16,
1883, and Samuel Vincent, born Sept. 1, 1893.
Mr. Gill has always been a progressive citizen,
taking an active part in all matters pertaining to the
improvement and welfare of the county. Both he and
his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
In politics he votes the Republican ticket, but in
sentiment is a strong Prohibitionist.
* Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the
Counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio: Chicago: J. H.
Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 564 |
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DAVID
GILLARD, M. D. This well-known physician
and surgeon of Port Clinton, Ottawa county, was born at
Venice, Erie Co., Ohio, July 30, 1852, and is the son of
John and Margaret (Hynes) Gillard. His
mother died when he was thirteen years old, after which
he went to live with his brother, Dr. Edwin Gillard.
He attended the public schools in Sandusky for one year
(1866), and then entered Oberlin College. After
leaving college he took a course of reading in medicine
with his brother, which he supplemented with a course in
Hahnemann Medical College at Cleveland.
Dr. Gillard began the practice of medicine in
Port Clinton on Mar. 6, 1878, which he has carried on
very successfully ever since. He is widely and
favorably known throughout this section of the country,
and has gained the confidence of the people, but by his
undoubted skill in all branches of his profession and by
his integrity of character. He has a very
extensive and constantly increasing practice, often more
than he can attend to, and, while being a general
practitioner, he has made a specialty of surgery, in
which also he has been remarkably successful He
has held the position of surgeon for the L. S. & M. S.
Railway Company since 1890, and is major surgeon of the
Fourth Ohio Regiment, Patriarchs Militant. He is
also a member of the encampment and canton of the I. O.
O. F.; of the Maccabees and of the Knights of Honor.
He was brought up in the faith of the Episcopal Church,
but is not exclusive in his views on religious subjects.
In politics he is a Republican.
Mrs. Clara H. Gillard, M. D., wife of Dr.
David Gillard, was born Apr. 4, 1862, in Bay
township, and is a daughter of Edward and Mary (Lattimore)
Hyde. Her father is a retired farmer, living,
with his wife, at Port Clinton, Ottawa county.
Their children are: John, Elizabeth, Alice,
Olive and Clara. John married Lucy
Park and is a farmer in Bay township, Ottawa county
(they have six children); Elizabeth is the wife
of Roswell Robinson and lives in Port Clinton;
Alice married David McRitchie, who is in the
meat business at Port Clinton, and has one child;
Olive is the wife of Charles Freer, a fish
dealer, and lives in Port Clinton.
Mrs. Gillard grew to womanhood in Port
Clinton, Ottawa county, attended the public schools in
that place until 1879, and taught school one year in Bay
township. After her marriage to Dr.
Gillard, Nov. 22, 1881, she became interested in the
study of medicine, and, after completing a course of
reading with her husband, went to Chicago, where she
became a student in the Hahnemann Medical College, from
which she graduated in 1889. Returning to Port
Clinton, she opened an office in connection with her
husband. and has been practicing ever since. She
has a large clientele, and is very popular with all
classes. She is an enthusiast in the Hahnemann
methods of treatment, and has been unusually successful
therein. Mrs. Gillard is a lady of
culture and refinement, always interested in whatever
tends to the advancement of her sex and the general good
of the public. She takes an active part in the
studies of the Chautauqua Circle, of Port Clinton, from
which she was graduated at Lakeside, Aug. 21, 1895, and
is a valuable member of that organization. She
served one year as president of the Ladies' Literary and
Social Club, and this year is corresponding secretary of
the same.
A sketch of the parental family of Dr.
Gillard may not be out of place in the biographical
record, and is herewith given. John
Gillard, the father of our subject, was born Oct.
30, 1814, at Londonderry, Ireland, and was of Scotch and
Irish descent. His father, whose name was
Richard, was a native of County Donegal, Ireland.
His people went from Scotland to Ireland, and were linen
dealers. He learned the trade of a flax dresser,
and subsequently owned mills of his own and prepared
flax for the market. He also carried on the
business of a commission merchant, dealing in yarn in
the city of Londonderry, Ireland. He afterward
went to Scotland, settling in the vicinity of Glasgow,
near the same mill to which he had formerly shipped
yarn. He lived to an advanced age. Nothing
further is known of this branch of the family as the
father of Dr. Gillard came to this country
before his parents removed to Scotland. The
Gillard family were members of the Scotch
Presbyterian Church, until some trouble arose between
our subject's father and the minister, after which he
united with the Episcopal Church.
John Gillard, the father of our subject,
grew to manhood about a mile and a half from
Londonderry, Ireland, He attended a subscription school
until four teen or fifteen years of age, working
meanwhile upon his father's farm, and learned the trade
of wagon maker. Afterward he went to Londonderry
and entered the service of a gentleman, as coachman; he
had the reputation of being the best coachman in the
city, and received the munificent sum of four dollars a
week and his board, which was considered good wages in
those days. In the employ of this man he remained
for some four or five years, and then having determined
to try what the New World held in store for him, set
sail on May 1, 1833, for America. It was a
comparatively serious matter to make a voyage across the
Atlantic in those days, as steam had not come into
general use for traveling purposes and the sailing
vessels were very slow. He was just two months
making the voyage, which was rendered not only more
tedious, but even dangerous, by the breaking out of
typhus fever, from which fifteen passengers died.
They were quarantined for two weeks at Quebec, Canada,
where they landed. Mr. Gillard at
first worked in a livery stable in Quebec, then went
into the country two and a half miles from the city,
entering the employ of a Mr. Hunt, with
whom he remained four years. He was married to
Miss Margaret Hynes, a daughter of
John Hynes. She was born in County
Antrim, Ireland, in 1821, and died Dec. 1, 1864, at
Venice, Ohio. After his marriage Mr.
Gillard, with his wife, went to Buffalo, N. Y.,
where he worked for a short time in a quarry for the
government, which was then building the Erie canal.
Leaving Buffalo he came to Venice, Erie Co., Ohio, and
for a while worked on a farm. He then began
hauling flour and carrying the mail between Venice and
Sandusky, which occupation he followed some eleven
years. At the expiration of that time he went into
partnership with Mr. Haywood, for whom he
had formerly worked, in the sheep business, at which
they made a great success, owning at one time about five
thousand sheep. This occupation he followed for
five years, but the price of wool fell, under a
Democratic administration, and he disposed of his sheep,
selling them at a low price. He then bought a farm
near Venice, and carried on farming until 1874. In
the meantime. his wife having died, Mr.
Gillard was married, the second time, Sept. 18,
1866, to Miss Ida Matt, who was
born in Baden, Germany, Mar. 30, 1846. By his
first marriage he had seven children, as follows:
William, who was born July 3, 1840, enlisted in 1861
in the One Hundred and Twenty-third Ohio Infantry, and
was made corporal of his company (he was killed at the
battle of Winchester, Va., in June, 1863); James
was born May 17, 1843; Edwin, June 20, 1845;
Samuel, Dec. 11,1847; David, July 30, 1852;
Louisa, Jan. 28, 1859; and Martha, Apr.
11, 1862. By his second marriage Mr.
Gillard had six children: Mary W., born Sept.
5, 1867, wife of Duglass Borden; John
W., Sept. 28, 1870; Belle O., Aug. 8, 1872;
Stella A., Jan. 16, 1876; R. H., January
9, 1879; and Ann L., January 5, 1881. John
Gillard was a Whig in the olden times, and
remembers helping to build a log-cabin for a
demonstration during the log-cabin and hard cider
campaign, and also remembers shaking hands with
President William Henry Harrison
in Sandusky, Ohio. After the formation of the
Republican party he joined its ranks, and has always
been an ardent advocate of its principles. He
hauled the first engine used on the old Mad River
railway at Sandusky, when it was carried from the boat
on the lake to the main train on the track. In
addition to his other occupations Mr. Gillard
for many years practiced as a veterinary surgeon, in
which he was very successful. He is postmaster at
Rocky Ridge, having served under Harrison's
administration, and so far under that of Cleveland.
Although arrived at a good old age, Mr. Gillard
is hale and hearty, with a clear head, has never used
tobacco, and is strictly temperate. He once
suffered an attack of Asiatic cholera, which was the
worst ill ness he ever had. He has the respect and
esteem of the entire community, and in peace and
prosperity is passing the closing days of a well-spent
life.
* Source: Commemorative Biographical Records of the
Counties of Sandusky and Ottawa, Ohio: Chicago: J. H.
Beers & Co. 1896 - Page 654 |
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