Gardner, Giles C.

GARDNER

Posted By: Karon Velau (email)
Date: 6/29/2021 at 00:15:38

History of Warren County, Iowa from Its Earliest Settlement to 1908, by Rev. W. C. Martin, Clarke Publishing Co., Chicago, Illinois, 1908, p.501

GILES C. GARDNER
Giles C. Gardner, one of the few remaining veterans of the Civil War and one of the prosperous farmers of Warren County, is now practically living retired at his home on section 31, Palmyra Township. He was born in Erie County, Pennsylvania, on the 6th of October, 1840, his parents being Truman and Sallie (White) Gardner, the former of Scotch and the latter of German ancestry. His father was born in Scotland and was a young man on coming to the United States. By trade he was a ship carpenter and millright, and for a time followed those occupations in New York City. There he was mar­ried and afterward removed to Erie County, Pennsylvania, still later to Ohio and subsequently to Logan County, Illinois, where he opened up a new farm. As time passed he prospered in his farming operations and eventually became the owner of nearly one thousand acres in that county, where he spent his last days. The mother of our subject died in Troy, New York, and the father subsequently married again. By the first union there were seven children, four sons and three daughters, and a brother of our subject, W. H. Gardner, of Carlisle, is represented elsewhere in this work.
Giles C. Gardner accompanied the family on their removal to Ohio and later to Logan County, Illinois, where he grew to manhood on a farm. When the country became involved in Civil War he enlisted in August1861, as a member of the Second Illinois Cavalry, which was an independent regiment and was first ordered to Missouri. The first engagement in which Mr. Gard­ner participated was at Belmont, that state, and he also took part in the battles of Shiloh, Fort Donelson, Fort Henry, Holly Springs, the Red River expedition, the battle of Nashville, and a number of other engagements of less importance. He was ill in the hospital at Paducah, Kentucky, for a time and was later on guard duty for thirty days, after which he rejoined his regiment and remained in the service until the close of the war, being mus­tered out at Paducah and honorably discharged at Springfield, Illinois, in September, 1865.
Mr. Gardner then returned home and resumed farming. He was married in Mason County, Illinois, July 4, 1867, to Miss Matilda A. Evans, who was born and reared in Pennsylvania, and they have become the parents of four children, three sons and one daughter, namely: George L. and Edward E., who are both married and live on farms near their father; James L., whose sketch will be found on another page of this volume; and Myrtle Dell, at home with her parents.
After his marriage Mr. Gardner located on a farm in Logan County, Illinois, where he continued to make his home until 1883, when he sold that place and came to Warren County, Iowa, buying a farm near his present home. His first purchase consisted of one hundred and forty-five acres, which he improved and cultivated for some time, and eventually bought his present farm, becoming the owner of over three hundred acres of land, on which he has erected good and substantial buildings. Today he has three sets of farm buildings upon his place, two of which are occupied by his sons. In connec­tion with general farming he has engaged in the raising and feeding of stock, but for several years he has now practically lived retired, leaving his sons to carry on the work of the farm. They now feed about five carloads of cattle annually and also raise a large number of hogs.
Since casting his first presidential vote for Abraham Lincoln in 1864, while in the army, he has been a staunch supporter of the Republican Party, but has never cared for office, though he has been officially connected with the schools both in Illinois and Iowa. He is a member of the Grand Army post at Hartford and both he and his wife hold membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, while their son, George, is also a member of the same church and is now superintendent of the Sunday school. As an honored veteran of the Civil War and a public spirited citizen, true to the interests of his county and state as well as to the country at large, Mr. Gardner is deserving of honorable mention in the history of the representative men of this region.