Sumner Gay, who is now living a retired life in Greenfield, where he has resided for some years, has for more than a half century been a citizen of Illinois, having arrived in this state in 1849. A native of Vermont, his birth occurred in Windsor County, on the 19th of March, 1827. His father, Dwight Gay, was a native of Massachusetts, born near the city of Boston, and in his childhood he removed to the Green Mountain state, where he was married to Persis Weber, whose birth occurred in Vermont. Later Dwight Gay established his home in St. Lawrence county, New York, and then went to Ohio. In 1857 he removed to Illinois, locating in Cass county, where his remaining days were passed, his death occurring in 1863. His wife survived him until August, 1865. Sumner Gay is of a family of four brothers and three sisters, one of whom, Dr. Norman Gay, was a surgeon in the army and served throughout the Civil war. He later located in Columbus, Ohio, and became a demonstrator in a medical college, acting in that capacity for several years. His death occurred in Columbus in 1899. Another brother, Justin Gay, is a retired farmer living in Franklin County, Ohio.

In 1834, then a lad of seven years, Sumner Gay accompanied his parents on their removal to St. Lawrence county, New York, where he was reared to manhood. He received good common-school advantages in early life and removing westward he spent one summer in Ohio, after which he came to Illinois. The first winter was passed in Cass county and he attended school at Virginia. The following spring he returned to Ohio and was there engaged in building cisterns, but in 1851 he again came to this state, once more locating in Cass county, devoting his energies to building cisterns in Scott and Cass counties in connection with his brother Dwight Gay. Attracted by the discovery of gold in California he made an overland trip to the Pacific coast in 1852, traveling with a party having four yoke of oxen and a horse. He spent one year in the mining district, meeting with fair success in his search for the precious metal. In the fall of 1853 he returned by way of the isthmus route to New York city and thence to the Buckeye state, where he continued to reside for three or four years. On the expiration of that period he went again to Cass county, Illinois, where he engaged in farming for a few years, after which he raised three crops in Greene county. He subsequently went to Missouri, buying land in Cass county, that state, and continuing its cultivation for two or three years, when he sold the property and removed to Jackson county, Missouri. He then bought a farm near Napoleon, where he resided until 1875. He then sold out and returning to Illinois established his home in Greenfield. He brought with him a fine Percheron stallion which he used for breeding purposes for eight or nine years and then sold. In 1884 he went west to Nebraska and spent one winter in Hastings, purchasing a farm in that locality. For a number of years he engaged in the breeding of fine horses and was the owner of some very fine stallions, these being pure-blooded registered animals. He owned chiefly the Percheron and Cleveland bays and as a breeder of fine horses he gained a wide reputation and in the business met with very desirable success. Purchasing a neat residence property in Greenfield, he is now living retired there in the enjoyment of a competency earned through careful management and well directed business interests.

In the fall of 1884 in Jacksonville, Illinois, Mr. Gay was united in marriage to Mrs. Jane Summers, nee Black. She came to Illinois with her father, John Black, in her early girlhood days, the family home being established in Alton in 1844. Mrs. Gay was reared in Illinois and in early womanhood gave her hand in marriage to Peter James Summers, a farmer of Cass County, Illinois. Subsequently they removed to Cass county, Missouri, where Mr. Summers' death occurred. There were four children by that union, but only one is now living, Ed Summers, a railroad engineer residing in Springfield, Illinois. He is married and has three children, Ethel and Edna, twins, and Nina.

In his political views Mr. Gay is a stanch Republican, although he was reared in the Democratic faith and for some time advocated its principles. He and his wife are members of the Methodist Episcopal church at Greenfield and are well known and much esteemed in the city and throughout the county where they have many friends. Their own home is the abode of hospitality and good cheer and all who know them entertain for them the warmest regard.