Thomas F. Gardner
Thomas F. Gardner, editor, Washington, was born in Newmarket, Ohio, February 18, 1832, and is a son of Beth and Elma S. Gardner, natives of Ohio, Avho had a family of three sons: George B., Mills, and Thomas F., our subject, who was married August 4, 1852, to Miss Susan Evans, daughter of Richard and Isabella Evans, of Washington. They have three children : Nannie B. and Charles F., living, and one who died in infancy.
Our subject enlisted in the 1st Ohio Cavalry, and after getting his hand broken was discharged, and afterward re-enlisted in a company of sharpshooters in the 60th Regiment, in front of Petersburg, where he remained until the close of the war, then he received an honorable discharge at Cleveland, in 1865, when the general discharge was made.
In 1849, he and his brother published a paper, the present Register, and when he was away he left his brother in charge of it. He afterward sold out to Pierce, who died, when the paper went into the hands of Samuel Pike, and he sold to W. G. Gould, and he to Beesley & Simmons, when Beesley died, and the administrator sold it to H. V. Kerr, who has since departed this life, and the paper is still continued by his son.
Our subject commenced his present paper September 17, 1879. He has filled the office of mayor and justice of the peace, which he resigned on going into the army. After returning home he engaged in different kinds of mercantile business, until he started the paper of which he is now the editor. He is a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Received his education while working at his trade, not having the advantages of the schools, and stands to-day among our self-made men, an honor to any one. His youth was spent at Newmarket. In politics he is a staunch Republican.
From R. S. Dills' History of Fayette County