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| Samuel Joseph Gish at a young age |
Born in Pennsylvania on February 24, 1901, Samuel Joseph Gish was the third of ten children born to
Samuel Milton Gish and
Elizabeth Adeline Smith Gish (married on February 18, 1896 in
Blain, Perry County, PN). They lived on a farm and in about 1902 or 1903, they moved to another farm in
Dickinson County, Kansas. For a flavor of what farm life was like in Kansas at the turn of the century, see the following article, especially the segment at the bottom describing a
farm wife's typical day.
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| Ike Eisenhower in his 5th grade class, bottom row, second from left |
Sam attended school through the ninth grade, when he had to quit to help on the farm. As with Eilleen's story, this was common with most Americans not completing high school. An interesting tidbit is that Sam had a younger, distant cousin,
Dwight D. "Ike" Eisenhower, that attended Lincoln Junior High School in Kansas, where Sam also went. Later Ike went on to become a famous general in World War II and also the 34th President of the United States.
Perhaps determined not to continue with farm life, Sam's older brother, Jacob, fought in World War I, serving in Company H 139th Infantry in France and was "
gassed". Though many victims of WWI poison gas either died on the battlefield or lived very short lives, Jacob lived to be 81 years old. Perhaps he was gassed with one of the irritating gasses rather than the deadly and disfiguring mustard or chlorine gasses. When he was discharged, he came home to Abilene, KS and opened the "Home Rule Cafe" in 1919. Sam and his Dad also worked there and a few years later, that's where Sam met Eilleen.
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| Jacob Gish in WWI uniform in France |
Sam's large family of siblings included a sad story of tragedy and loss. His younger brother, Glenn at age 14 was hit and killed by a passenger train on August 16, 1924 in
Elmo, KS. Their mother never got over the incident and died of a stroke a year later on Feb. 5, 1925 when she was about 50 years old.
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| Elizabeth Adeline Smith Gish |
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| Glenn Dervin Gish |
Sam's father fell in love after a few years and married Ella Minnie Allinger on Dec. 18, 1928. She must have been considered a spinster, since she was 44 years-old, and hadn't married and had no children of her own. With her marriage, though, she had a 59 year-old husband and a whole family of step-children including 11 year old Mary (born in 1917) and 12 year old Charlie (born in 1916) to care for when she married "Dad." She also helped out in the cafe, baking pies.
Sam and his Dad loved cars. They were affordable and some models were made for rural living. Ford's "
Model T was intended to be 'a farmer’s car' that served the transportation needs of a nation of farmers," according to the History Channel's website. The automobile enabled Sam and his family to enter the cross-country migration that eventually brought them to California. In the next post, we'll explore how Sam and Eilleen met and the early years of their marriage.
Note: click the links in the article to access further information.
