William R. Gardner
William R. Gardner, baker, Kent, was born in Brimfield Township, this county, December 30, 1819; son of John V. and Sarah A. (Spear) Gardner, natives of Massachusetts, who settled in Brimfield Township in 1817, where they lived until February, 1838, when Mrs. Sarah A. Gardner died. John V. Gardner then, in 1839, removed to Franklin Mills (now Kent), where he embarked in mercantile business, in which he was engaged for several years. He died April 7, 1878, in his ninety-first year. He served as Justice of the Peace of Brimfield for fifteen years, also in Franklin about the same length of time. He was married first to Sarah A. Spear, by whom he had nine children, seven of whom grew to manhood and womanhood: John V.R., Eliza and Julia Ann E. (deceased), William R., Reuben F. (deceased), Reuben F., Abigail L. (Mrs. John Morris), Caroline A. (Mrs. O.C. Holden), Sarah F. (Mrs. Nourse). Then, in March, 1839, J.V. Gardner was married to Margaret Beatty, nee Haymaker, by whom he had three children: George D., Mary (Mrs. George Stauffer) and Estella (Mrs. Mark Chase). The subject of this sketch was reared in Brimfield Township, and in 1839 came to Kent with his parents and entered his father’s store. He was with D.P. Rhodes, of Cleveland, for several years, and embarked in his present business in 1876. He was married, in 1851, to Sarah E. De Moss, of Cochocton, Ohio, by whom he has two children: John V. and Lewis D. Mr. Gardner is one of the substantial business men of Kent. In politics he is a Republican.
From History of Portage County, Ohio, Warner, Beers & Co., Chicago, 1885