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 OHN J. GANNAWAY, who for fifty-eight
years has been numbered as one of the
worthy residents of Paradise Township,
first drew breath in Grayson County, Ky.,
20, 1826. He was the son of John and
Elizabeth (Williams) Gannaway, whose household
included eighteen olive branches, ten of whom
lived to maturity. John Gannaway, Sr., a native of Virginia, born in November, 1789, was the son of William and Sallie (Gannaway) Gannaway, and when a young man learned the trade of a carpenter, which he followed in his native State until 1829. He then removed with his family to Illinois, locating first at Muddy Point, this county, whence he soon afterward removed to Paradise Township, where he remained until his death, Feb. 27, 1875. He bought sixty acres of wild land on section 13, which is now occupied by his son, our subject. He was a quiet and unobtrusive citizen, highly respected by his neighbors, and with his wife, a consistent member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Our subject was a youth of eighteen years when he came with his parents to the farm which has since continuously been his home. He has added to the original area, and is now the proprietor of 400 acres. When twenty-seven years of age he was married, Dec. 1, 1853, to Miss Sarah L., daughter of Samuel and Margaret (Love) Williams, of Hardin County, Ky. Samuel Williams was the son of William and Elizabeth Williams, and his wife, Margaret, was the daughter of William and Mary Love. Mr. and Mrs. G. became the parents of five children, all living and named respectively, Samuel, Margaret E., Artemesia M., Abraham L. and John. The eldest son, Samuel, married Miss Mary, daughter of John and Ruth Jones, and is occupied in farming near the homestead of his father; they have two children Sarah and Willard Earl. Margaret M. is the wife of Simeon Horsley, and is living with her husband on a farm in Mattoon Township; they have four children John, Landie Lee, Homer and Josephine. Mr. Gannaway has been prominent in the local affairs of his township, serving as School Director and Commissioner, but takes no further part in politics than to cast his vote at important elections, with the Republican party. He is a member and Trustee of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and has in all respects fulfilled his duties as an honest man and a good citizen. |
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