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John William Tudor Gardiner was born at Oaklands, the family estate, in Gardiner, Maine, June 5, 1817. His father was Robert Hallowell ( 1782-1864), who added his mother's name of Gardiner when he inherited his maternal grandfather's properties in Maine about 1804. His mother was Emma Jane Tudor (1785-1865), the daughter of William Tudor (1750-1819). This William Tudor graduated from Harvard in 1769 and served as Judge Advocate for Washington. There were several other children of this marriage, and our subject was named after two of his mother's brothers, John Tudor and William Tudor.
Besides the immediate family there were often visiting children in the household, so that the family often hada tutor to instruct the children. At one date the father noted there were 22 persons in the household. In 1824Miss Elizabeth Peabody was governess in the household (see the book The Peabody Sisters of Salem").
John William Tudor Gardiner (J.W.T.G.) was sent to Mr. Putnam's School in Andover, Mass. and later to a school run by Mr. Cogswell in Northampton, Mass. He went to Harvard in the Class of 1836. There he belonged to the Porcellian Club, as had his older brother, Robert Hallowell Gardiner, of the Class of 1830 and his father in the Class of 1801, as well as Uncle William Tudor in the class of 1796 and his Uncle John Henry Tudor in the Class of 1800. His grandson, Wm. Tudor Gardiner belonged to the same Club in the Class of 1914 and his son Tudor Gardiner in the Class of 1940.)
Gardiner left college and entered West Point July 1, 1836, graduating four years later and being commissioned July 1, 1840 as Brevet 2d Lieut . in the 1st Dragoons . be Captain, October 9, 1851. He rose in that regiment to this time he spent on the frontier except when his regiment was ordered to the City of Mexico, which it did not reach until after the capitulation of General Scott. In 1853 he accompanied Governor Stevens on the Exploration for the Northern Pacific Railroad. This tour of duty seriously affected his health and he ·attempted a sea voyage to California on the steamer "San Francisco" to improve his health. The ship was carrying the 3rd Artillery to the Pacific Coast via Cape Horn. Gardiner was carried on board on a litter December 21, 1853. She was wrecked off Cape Hatteras, and he describes this briefly in a letter to his brother Frederic dated July 13, 1854 .
Gardiner married Annie E. Hays West in 1854 . She was the widow of a West Point friend. The Hays family came from Carl is le , Pa. Gardiner was stationed at Fort Tejon in 1855, invalided home in 1857, retired in 1861, but made Provost Marshal General at Augusta , Maine. He died at Oaklands September 27, 1879 . (See gravestone from findagrave.com)
Gardiner's eldest child, Robert Hallowell Gardiner, was born at Fort Tejon September 9 , 1855. He died in1925. The next child, Eleanor Gardiner, who is still living, was born June 3 , 1857 at Benicia, California. Twin boys, John Hays and John Tudor were born in Gardiner April 6, 1853 . There were two younger children , Francis Richards and Anne, who died young.
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