James C Gaither

James C. Gaither

James Caldwell Gaither was a prominent citizen in the history of Texas as well as several of the central counties south of Waco. He was a military and political leader who left a very favorable legacy in Texas.

James C. Gaither was born April 12, 1826 in Iredell County, NC, to Forest and Lamira (Caldwell) Gaither. The Gaither family moved progressively westward to Marengo County, AL, in 1836 and then on to Fayette County in Central Texas in 1840. After the outbreak of the Mexican War, Gaither enlisted as a first lieutenant in John C. Hays’ regiment of Texas Cavalry and entered the conflict. The unit was sent to reinforce General Winfield Scott arriving in Mexico just after the fall of Mexico City. Also in Scott’s entourage of junior officers in this campaign were Robert E. Lee, Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson, James Longstreet, U.S. Grant and George Meade. Gaither survived the conflict, however his brother Carlos was killed in action. Continue reading

Lt. Col Henry Gaither

Lt. Col. Henry Gaither was a Revolutionary War veteran and
became the second commander of Fort Adams, Mississippi Territory.
Lt. Col. Henry Gaither, who commanded Fort Adams in Mississippi Territory, 1801.
The fort was built in 1799 and served as the United States port of entry along the
Mississippi River and a line of defense against the Spanish.
It also hosted the signing of the treaty with the Choctaw Indians for the building
of a road that would later become known as the Natchez Trace.

Jane Gaither Thomas

Jane Gaither Thomas,

the Family Outcast

Jane Gaither was born on the 26th of May, 1823, in Iredel County,
North Carolina. Her father, Forest Gaither, son of Burgess
Gaither, is described as a wealthy plantation owner who was
involved in the loan of a large amount of money, with 40,000
acres of land in Texas as security . When the loan defaulted, he
moved with his family to take it over. Jane was his only
daughter .
Daniel Thomas, Jr. , a part time Methodist minister . His son Daniel
Claiborne Thomas, Sr., is said to have "gone to Texas to see the
Gaither girl and to have married her there" in 1843.
Daniel Clayborne Thomas had a brother, Preston, who went to St.
Louis to see one of the three witnesses to the events involving
Joseph Smith in restoring the Church of Jesus Chris t of Latter
Day Saints. When Oliver Cowdery confirmed the truth of what he
had seen, Preston went to Texas to tell his brother about it and
he also joined the Mormon Church. A few years later , his wife,
Jane, also joined.

Horace Rowan Gaither Jr.

Horace Rowan Gaither Jr.

Known as H. Rowan Gaither, was a San Francisco attorney, investment banker, and a powerful administrator at the Ford Foundation. During World War II, he served as assistant director of the Radiation Laboratory at M.I.T. In 1948, he helped found the Rand Corporation and served as a trustee until 1959.

In 1958 and 1959, he served as the 1st Chairman of the MITRE Corporation Board of Trustees. From 1959 through his death, Gaither was a general partner and co-founder of Draper, Gaither & Anderson, one of the first venture capital firms on the west coast of the U.S., together with William H. Draper Jr., a retired Army general and Frederick L. Anderson, a retired Air Force general.

He was hired by Henry Ford II to help set the priorities of the Ford Foundation in 1947, chairing the study committee that wrote the "Report of the Study for the Ford Foundation on Policy and Program." He was later president of the Ford Foundation. He is best remembered today as the author of the controversial 1957 Gaither Report on the vulnerability of American defense. He died in 1961 of lung cancer.

Horace was born 23 Nov 1909 in Natchez, Mississippi to Horace Rowan Gaither (1885-1953) and Marguerite Chamberlin (1887-1937). On 18 Jul 1834 he married Charlotte Cameron Castle, daughter of James Blair Castle and Mila Sanford Van Heusen. He passed away on 13 Apr 1961 in New York City and is buried in Mountain View Cemetery, Oakland California.

Burgess Sidney Gaither

Burgess Sidney Gaither
Burgess Sidney Gaither (March 16, 1807 – February 23, 1892) was a prominent North Carolina politician and attorney who served in the Confederate States Congress during the American Civil War.

Early life and education
Gaither was born in Iredell County, North Carolina, the son of Burgess Gaither (a longtime member of the North Carolina House of Commons) and Milly Martin. B.S. Gaither attended the University of Georgia, where classmates included Alexander Stephens and Robert Toombs.

Admitted to the bar in 1829, Gaither practiced law and served as clerk of court in Burke County. He was also elected to represent the county in the 1835 convention to revise the North Carolina Constitution.

Political career
A Whig and a supporter of Henry Clay, Gaither was appointed superintendent of the mint at Charlotte in 1841 by President John Tyler.

He was a member of the North Carolina Senate in 1840-41 and again in 1844-45, when he served as President pro tempore. The legislature then elected Gaither to serve as solicitor (district attorney) for the state's seventh judicial district. In 1851 and 1853, he was an unsuccessful candidate for Congress against maverick Whig Thomas L. Clingman. Gaither supported the Constitutional Union Party in the 1860 presidential election but was a defender of the Southern cause after Abraham Lincoln's inauguration.

He represented the state in the First Confederate Congress and the Second Confederate Congress from 1862 to 1865. After the war, Gaither resumed his law practice and ran two more unsuccessful races for Congress. He died in Morganton shortly before what would have been his 85th birthday.

His home known as the Gaither House at Morganton, North Carolina, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976.

Beal J Gaither Jr

Beal J Gaither Jr

Born in Tennessee to Colonel Beale J. Gaither, Sr and Mary "Polly" (Rogers) on Aug 22,1834. He married Adaline Frances Clark in 1861. They had 5 children: James Jefferson, John Simpson, Ransom W., Eli Wayland, and Ruth Elizabeth [Darnell]. Captain, Co. D, 27th Arkansas Infantry, February 15, 1862. POW, Carroll County, AR April 4, 1863. Exchanged July 24, 1863. Promoted Major, April 21, 1863; Colonel, November 27, 1863. Unit consolidated with 28th Arkansas Infantry in spring 1864 with Gaither as Lt. Colonel. Paroled June 8, 1865.

Moved to Oregon 1887 as Indian agent for Silitz Reservation. He was Silitz Indian Agent in 1889, then again 1894-1898.

Parents:

  Beale J. Gaither (1790 - 1863)

  Mary Rogers Gaither (1792 - 1876)

 Spouse:

  Adaline Frances Clark Gaither (1839 - 1917)

 Children:

  James J Gaither (1861 - 1943)

  John Simpson Gaither (1867 - 1946)

  Ransom W. Gaither (1870 - 1872 

  Eli W. Gaither (1873 - 1953)

Beal J Gaither

 

Beal J Gaither

Beal J Gaither was born in Rowan Co. North Carolina to Benjamin and Rachel Elizabeth (Walker) Gaither on Sep 10, 1790. Married on Aug 26, 1811, to Mary "Polly" Rogers (b. Sep. 6, 1790). They had 12 children. He was a Colonel in the War of 1812. Believed to have died in battle during the Civil War. Gaither Township, Boone County, Arkansas named after Col. Beale Gaither after he settled in the area in 1832.

 Parents:

  Benjamin Gaither (1752 - 1802)  Elizabeth (Rachel) Watkins Gaither (1750 - 1810)

 Spouse:

  Mary Rogers Gaither (1792 - 1876)

 

Nathaniel Gaither Jr.

Nathaniel Gaither Jr.

Nathaniel Gaither Jr. b: 1 Jan 1835 d: 19 Dec 1894 Adair County, Kentucky, attorney, statesman, and soldier. Adair County native. Son of Nathaniel Gaither and Martha Morrison Gaither. Married to Susan Shelby Magoffin Gaither on September 25, 1861. Resident of Adair County in 1850. Household owned eighteen enslaved persons in Adair County in 1850. Admitted to the bar in Adair County. School commissioner and county attorney. Member of the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from 1859 to 1861. Attorney in Adair County in 1860. Secretary of state of the Commonwealth of Kentucky from October 2, 1861, to August 18, 1862. Served in the 6th Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry Regiment (C.S.A.) as a private.

Dr. Abner Gaither

Dr. Abner Gaither died in Shelbyville, Bedford Co Tn. of the cholera, also very young. The cholera epidemic hit the area and most well people left the area, he sent his two young sons, Silas T. & Ebbinezer (Ebb) with his parents, Rezin & Tabitha Jabobs Gaither back to Marshall Co. Ky. He stayed to help the suffering people until he contracted the disease himself. He is on the list of a minister who said a prayer over the mass grave as they were being buried.

Benjamin B. Gaither

 

Benjamin B. Gaither, one of the most prominent citizens of Scott County, Mo., was born in Kentucky, in 1824. He is a son of John Gaither, of English descent, born near the District of Columbia, in Maryland. When young, the latter's parents came to Maryland, and resided there until their deaths. They had three children: Horace, Harriet (Pierce) and John. The last named removed to Kentucky, where he married Rebecca Bell, a native of Kentucky, of Welsh parentage. In March, 1833, they came to Cape Girardeau County, Mo., and purchased land on which they located, and afterward improved and made their home. John Gaither died in September, 1837, and his wife in September, 1836. They were the parents of eight children, viz.: Benjamin B., James W. (of Texas), John T. (a merchant of Commerce, Mo.), Harriet (wife of Jackson Ellis, residing near Commerce), Margaret, Mary, Harriet and Rebecca. The last four are dead. Margaret, Rebecca and Harriet were married, and reared families. Benjamin B. was thirteen years old when his father died. He went to Jackson, Mo., and learned the tanner's trade with James M. McGuire, by serving an apprenticeship of six and one-half years. In 1845 he went to Commerce and established a tan-yard, which he managed until 1856, after which he engaged in general merchandising at Benton, and continued two years, when he returned to Commerce and engaged in the grocery and milling business. During the war he dealt in grain, mostly corn, which he sold to the Government, and after the war engaged in merchandising and milling. He built the first store-house in Morley, and sold goods there until 1870. In 1872 he traded the store and goods at Morley to his brother, John T., for the farm on which he now resides. On January 26, 1847, he was united in marriage with Susan Ellis, a native of Scott County, born on what is now the county poor farm. She was born January 4, 1828, and is the daughter of Edward and Harriet (Nelson) Ellis. natives of Maryland and Virginia, respectively, who removed to Kentucky, and from thence to Southeast Missouri, in 1827. They had thirteen children, viz.: Emily, Eliza, Nelson, Susan, Elizabeth, Jackson, Benjamin, Nancy, Sarah. Mary. Harriet, William and Edward. The last nine are dead. Emily lives in Benton, Eliza is the wife of Daniel H. Loody, and Nelson lives in Scott County, engaged in farming. Mr. Ellis died in the spring of 1858, and his widow in 1859. In 1859 or 1860 Mr. Gaither was appointed justice of the county court, and in 1881 was elected to represent, Scott County in the Legislature. Mr. Gaither is extensively engaged in stock-raising. He has about 1,200 acres of land under cultivation, most of which he rents. He is a member of the A. F. & A. M. His wife is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. They have no children of their own, but have reared sixteen orphan children, only two of whom are with them now: Jefferson Tisdle and Lizzie Davis, a daughter of Samuel T. Davis, a prominent attorney of New Madrid County, who died in 1881. Mr. Gaither and wife are highly esteemed by all who know them, and are two of Scott County's best citizens. John T. Gaither, a merchant of Commerce, Mo., was born in 1832, in Davidson County, Ky., and when one year old, came with his parents, John and Rebecca (Bell) Gaither, to Southeast Missouri, and located in Cape Girardeau County. He remained with his parents until the death of his father, in 1840, when he was bound for three years to Mr. McGuire, of Jackson. Mo., to learn the tanner's trade. He then came to Scott County, and was engaged with his brother in the tanning business until 1849, after which he went to New Orleans and remained one year. Returning home, he entered school at Cape Girardeau, where he finished his education in 1852. In company with his brother, James W., and others, he then went overland, with ox-teams, to California, the trip requiring 110 days, during which he drove the team every third day. . Upon reaching California he began prospecting for gold, and after remaining there two years engaged in mining and farming. He returned, in 1854, to Commerce. John T. Gaither, after his return home, purchased the tan-yard of his brother, B. B. Gaither, and managed the business until the commencement of the Civil War. During the war he was engaged in farming and dealing in wood on Big Island, in the Mississippi River. From 1866 until 1870 he was engaged in farming in Scott County, and from 1870 until 1875 in merchandising at Morley, at which time he removed to Commerce and engaged in his present general merchandising business. He was elected treasurer of Scott County in 1868, and served one term. For twenty-seven years he served as school director, and retired in 1887, refusing to serve longer. In 1858 he married Columbia Daugherty, a native of Dunklin County, Mo., born in 1839. They have had nine children, viz.: Hettie (wife of Herbert Ranney, of Cape Girardeau County), Emma (wife of James Ranney, of the same county as above), John W. (deceased), Anna, Arthur, Birtie, Belle, o B. and Edna. Mr. and Mrs. Gaither are active members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, he having been a member since 1869. He is also a member of the A. F. & A. M., and A. O. U. W.