California Biographies

Transcribed by Peggy Hooper

This file is part of the California Genealogy & History Archives 
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cagha/index.htm

Source:
History of the state of California and biographical record of the San Joaquin 
Valley, California. An historical story of the state's marvelous growth from 
its earliest settlement to the present time.
Prof. James Miller Guinn , A. M.
The Chapman Publishing Co., Chicago 1905
Notes: Missing Page: 865-866,983-984,1175-1176


WILLIAM GANN. A resident of Lindsay. Tulare county, William Gann is engaged as a 
blacksmith, in which trade he has met with a gratifying success. He was born in Santa Cruz, 
Cal., November 13. 1866, a member of a family of six sons and five daughters, of whom al! 
but one daughter are living. His father, John Gann, was a native of Tennessee, as was his 
grandfather, John, also. The elder man crossed the plains to California and located near Stock- 
ton, where he made his home until his death. In 1850 John Gann, Jr., crossed the plains with 
ox-teams, and upon his arrival in the state followed mining for a time. He finally located in 
Santa Cruz county and engaged as a farmer until 1881, when lie went to Kern county and 
homesteaded one hundred and sixty acres near Glennville. Since his settlement there he has 
engaged in the raising of stock. His wife, formerly Elizabeth Hitchcock, was a native of Mis- 
souri and the daughter of Silas Hitchcock, who crossed the plains in 1846. He went first to 
Oregon, the following year, however, coming to California, where he became a farmer in the 
San Joaquin valley, later in Los Gatos, in which place his death occurred. 

William Gann remained in Santa Cruz county until he was seven years old, then accompanied 
his parents to San Joaquin county, thence to Inyo county, and in 1881 to Kern county. He at- 
tended the district schools in these various places, acquiring a substantial foundation for the prac- 
tical knowledge which has since given him success in his life-work. He learned the trade of 
blacksmith in Glennville and Bakersfield, completing his apprenticeship in the latter city. Un- 
til 1896 he remained in Bakersfield, when he came to Tulare and worked at his. trade two 
years. Locating in Lindsay, in 1898, he bought out the shop of Charles Kirkham and continued 
his work here for a time. In 1904 he purchased two lots and put up a large, roomy shop, where 
he carries on an extensive trade in his line of general blacksmith. He has also built a com- 
fortable residence here, and in many ways takes an active interest in the growth and upbuilding 
of the town. 

In Lindsay Mr. Gann was united in marriage with Maude Denton, a native of Kentucky. Mr. 
Gann is a member of the Woodmen of the World, having been made a member of Lindsay Camp 
No. 334, of which he is past council commander, and also belongs to Women of Woodcraft. Po- 
litically he is a stanch Republican.