Martha Gifford Harris and Myrtice Gifford Forsythe are descendants of William and Elizabeth Gifford. William Gifford was a Revolutionary War soldier and died at age 89 in 1846 at the residence of his son, James M. Gifford, of Greenfield Township.   Please see a previously posted article about William Gifford at MY REVOLUTIONARY ANCESTOR, WILLIAM GIFFORD. William had nine sons.   Myrtice descends from his first one, Benjamin.  Martha descends from his last one, John.

Myrtice provided this information in a 2001 email concerning Clarence Eugene Gifford [photo below], also known as Uncle Gene:
"Uncle Gene was a brother to Frank A. Gifford. Following is a story that Martha Gifford Harris wrote about this family. George Stetson Gifford was her father.

'I well remember the pilgrimages we took to Chautauqua County, NY, with my father, George Stetson Gifford. That was before the NY State Thru-way, McDonalds and the bridge across Chautauqua Lake! We visited Uncle Gene Gifford (July 29, 1871-July 31, 1960) in Findley Lake, NY, and, fortunately, my father asked about his memories of the family and notes were taken. My father's father was Frank A. Gifford, Uncle Gene's younger brother. Grandfather died in 1937. Gene, Frank and another brother, Rob (Nov. 10, 1875-June 28, 1942), were born in Colt's Station, Greenfield Township, Erie County, PA. Their father was Orson Frank Gifford (Nov. 10, 1839-May 16, 1925) and their mother was Sarah Elizabeth (Feb. 9, 1840-Feb. 1, 1929). Orson enlisted in the 83rd Pennsylvania Volunteers Regiment, Aug. 5, 1861. During the Battle of Gaines Mill, he received a gunshot wound to his left arm disabling his elbow. My father remembered his grandfather would lift his left arm onto the edge of the table which acted as the fulcrum and then he was able to use his left hand. His pension record states that he was 23 years old, 6 ft. 4 in. in height, of light complexion, with black eyes and black hair, when he was discharged. He was Justice of the Peace in Greenfield Township, Erie County, PA and in Findley Lake, Chautauqua County, NY for a total of 50 years, and therefore, was known as Squire Gifford.'
'In 1969, an elderly couple who had lived in Findley Lake as young people, wrote of their memories of Squire Gifford. Mr. Fox wrote, " Mr. Gifford was tall and spare, and his dignified bearing, enhanced no doubt by a somewhat gruff manner and a grizzled walrus mustache, added to the fact that we were very conscious of the fact that he was perennially a Justice of the Peace, made him the embodiment of law and order and public authority in my impressionable mind. Then, too, his shortened left arm, the result of a bullet wound in the Civil War, was a kind of a badge of honor that marked him as an authentic hero upon whom we looked almost with awe."'
'Mrs. Fox remembered that he had called her "Rosebud" and that he had enjoyed strawberries and vegetables that friends brought him. She also remembered our Uncle Gene. She wrote, "Eugene was our carpenter, and he did wonderful work. One of his great faults was that he let people forget that they owed him. Frank (Gene's brother) was our Sunday School teacher when we were teenagers and we all liked him so much."'

"The children of John and Clarissa are:
1. Justus Oct. 4, 1828-Mar. 15, 1855
2. Milton b. abt. 1831 Farmer in Northeast, Erie Cnty, PA
3. Matilda b. abt.1834 May have been Mary
4. Albert b. abt. 1836
5. Orson Frank Nov. 28, 1839-May 16, 1925 [photo below]
6. Silas b. abt. 1841 To Michigan
7. Nancy b. abt. 1844 Married ? Dyke
8. Louis b. abt. 1846 To California
9. Goerge b. abt. 1849 Farmer and Freewill Baptist preacher
All of these children were born in Erie Co., Pa."

Another relative, Ansel Asa Hemenway Gifford , is shown in the first photo below. Myrtice forwarded the following information in March 2001 concerning Ansel: "Don Bailey, a descendant of James Murray Gifford has related the following information to me abourt James M. Gifford. James was a brother to Benjamin, Joseph, John, William S., Ebenezer, Jabez, Enos, and Sylvanos, Remembrance and Elizabeth. These were the children of Willliam and Elizabeth Gifford who moved to Erie Co., Pa. after 1820 from Warren Co., New York. John, William S., Ebenezer F. and James also made this move, and the two sisters. The others were located in other places. Don says:

'My grandmother Adda Lovilla Beal, said that her grandfather relayed much of the Gifford Genealogy to her. I quote her work now:
" James M. Gifford, born June 21, 1800, Arlington, Vermont died in 1881 in Rome Wisconsin. Son of William Gifford, a blind veteran with a pension of $8.00 per month. According to Williams grandson, Ansel Asa Hemenway Gifford, born April 22, 1829, Harbor Creek, Pa. , son of James Gifford. William was blinded during the war of 1812. (He had also fought in the War of the Revolution and that was what the pension was for.. Ansel said that his duty during childhood was to "lead around" his blind grandfather. (Ansel died in Spokane WA 1918 while visiting his daughter. Ella Emma Gifford Beal). His explanation of the blindness was that it was customary, when loading their firing pieces, to bite the end from their cartridges. One exploded in William's face. From Glen Falls, Warren Co., New York , his home after 1803, William went sometime after 1820 to Erie County PA accompanied by his wife and daughter, Elizabeth. James and Prudence (Hemenway) Gifford together with their six children, and other people, went from Erie County PA to Wisconsin after the death of his father William in 1846. William was residing with James at his death. The place where they settled was called Rome. It is about eight miles northwest of Dousman. Their children and grandchildren made their homes in various parts of that area, Rome, Hardscrable, Punjkin Holler, Dousman, Waterville, Ottawa, Oconomowoc, Whiterwater, New Richmond and later on west as far as Tacoma, Spokane and Seattle. James and Prudence Gifford are buried in the Hardscrable Cemetery, while many of the family is buried in Summit Cemetery about one and a half miles north of Dousman."
My Line
William Gifford - Sandwich MA
William Gifford and Hannah ?
Gideon Gifford and Mehitable Jenney
Gideon Gifford and Lois Jackson
William Gifford born ca 1757 d. 15 Aug 1846 and Elizabeth
James Murray Gifford and Prudence Hemenway
Ansel Asa Hemenway Gifford and Caroline Emma Powell
Ella Emma Powell and Edward Rutledge Beal
Adda Lovilla Beal and Thomas John Bolitho
Elizabeth Helen Bolitho and Lyman Newton Bailey
Donald Lyman Bailey me...'"