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Washington County >> 1887 Index Portrait and Biographical Album of Washington
County, Iowa G William G. Gamon, who is located on section 2, Marion Township, was born in the city of London, England, in 1839, and is the son of Evan and Mary Ann (May) Gamon, the former a native of Wales, and the latter of London. When he was an infant, his mother died, and his was sent to his grandmother in Wales, where he was reared to the occupation of a miner. Believing the New World to be a better place for acquiring more than a mere living, Mr. Gamon sailed from Liverpool to New York in 1866, in a German vessel, and was eighteen days on the ocean, during which time a severe storm arose which blew them eighty miles out of their course. On landing in New York, he at once proceeded to Henry County, Iowa, where he remained one year, engaged in farming, and then settled on section 2, Marion Township, where he bought 180 acres of partially improved land. To his original purchase he has since added forty acres, all of which is well improved and under a high state of cultivation. His house and barn were erected at a cost of $2,000. In addition to general farming, he is engaged somewhat extensively in stock-raising. In the fall of 1867, Mr. Gamon was united in marriage with Miss Rachel Putnam, a daughter of Jacob G. and Ellen (Edmondson) Putnam. By this union there were seven children: Mary A. died in infancy; Sarah, William R., Winnie Ellen, Elizabeth, Hannah Belle and Eva May. In politics, Mr. Gamon is a Democrat, and has served as Township Trustee; he was once elected to the office of Justice of the Peace, but refused to qualify. His father died in England about 1864. As may be inferred from what has already been said, Mr. Gamon commenced life in humble circumstances, and received but a very limited education in the common schools of Wales; but he was bred to habits of industry, and given to understand that success only follows upon industry. By hard work and such economy as was necessary, he has acquired a fine property, and has surrounded himself with many of the conveniences and comforts of life. Hon. Robert Glasgow, an ex-member of the House of Representatives of the State of Iowa, is a native of Ohio, born in Adams County, April 12, 1820, and the son of James and Mary (McNeil) Glasgow, who were also natives of the same county. His grandfather, Robert Glasgow, was a native of Ireland, and was a soldier in the Revolutionary War. He was among the earliest settlers of Adams County, Ohio, and there died. James Glasgow remained on the old homestead in Ohio will 1856, when he moved to Wayne County, Iowa, where he died. They were members of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church. The subject of this sketch was reared on his father's farm, and received but a limited education in the old log school-houses of his native county, but being naturally of a studious turn of mind he became a great reader of the best authors, and thus acquired a knowledge of men and events that many a college graduate would be pleased to possess. He was married, in 1840, to Miss Mary R. Finley, a daughter of William Finley, a prominent farmer of Adams County. He followed farming in Ohio till 1854, when he came to Washington County, Iowa, and located in Washington Township, where he followed the same business for several years. Of their children five lived to be adults. James D. was graduated from Washington College, but at the breaking out of the Rebellion enlisted in Co. C, 8th Iowa Vol. Inf., was taken prisoner at Shiloh, subsequently exchanged, rejoined his regiment, and died from disease contracted in the service, at Pocahontas, Tenn., Dec. 11, 1863; William F. is now at Ft. Madison, Iowa; Lorenzo G. is a clerk in a drug-store in Washington; Mary M. is at home; Sarah Alma is the widow of Rev. J. D. White, and now resides in Washington. Mr. White received his literary education at Washington and Jefferson Colleges, and graduated from the Western Theological Seminary. In 1879 he was called to the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church of Washington, and filled the pulpit till June, 1884. He died in January, 1887. Mrs. White in the last few years has developed artistic talent to a high degree, and exhibits some very fine specimens of oil paintings from her brush. What is very remarkable is the fact that she never received any instruction in that line. Mrs. Glasgow died May 5, 1884, mourned alike by her husband, children and friends. She was a woman of many Christian graces, and loved by all. In 1860 Mr. Glasgow was nominated, and by his party was elected, a member of the Lower House of the General Assembly of the State, and served with credit to himself and his constituents. He was present during the special session in the spring of 1861, called for the purpose of making provisions for enlisting and providing men to help put down the Rebellion. In March, 1864, notwithstanding he had given one son to the cause of his country, he enlisted as a private in Co. H, 2nd Iowa Vet. Vol. Inf., and served till the close of the war. He joined the regiment in front of Atlanta, was with it in its march to the sea, through the Carolinas to Washington, and was one in the grand review in that city at the close of the war. He was mustered out with the regiment in the summer of 1865. Returning home in the fall of 1865 he was nominated and elected County Treasurer, and was re-elected three times, serving in all eight years. He has at all times enjoyed the respect and esteem of the community in which he resides.
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