Information about the William and George Gamble families of Ohio

Some Gamble family information:

I stumbled onto a record that was created of the Gambles that had originally been compiled by the grandson of Wilson Gamble's younger brother David. I haven't organized what I collected at this time, but this is some cool stuff to think about:

The Gambles were Scots, who (depending upon whom you care to believe) immigrated to County Cavan, Ireland in the 1700's (the more plausible story to me) or, in the 1600's and had some landed status (less plausible to me). The earliest documented Gamble to our family is Robert Gamble, William and George's father. The location of his farm in Ireland apparently still exists, but I haven't checked it out. The wife was Nancy McKnight, which was Wilson's middle name.

Wilson Gamble's father (William Clifford Gamble) and mother (Isabel Gamble) were first cousins (yikes!). Their fathers were brothers, William (William C's father) and George. William immigrated in the early 1800's or late 1700's to Pennsylvania (near Fort Redstone) and then on to Ohio. He served in the First Regiment of Ohio Militia in the War of 1812 briefly.

George and his wife and children immigrated from Ireland to Baltimore around 1821 on a ship loaded with plaster of paris and carrying a few hundred passengers. En route, one of their daughters, a girl named Martha (I think) died. According to the story, the family didn’t want to bury the girl at sea, but after some period of time the crew was up in arms out of fear that the corpse would draw sharks, and the ship eventually layed over at an island off St. John's Newfoundland where she was buried before the ship continued to Baltimore. These Gambles eventually also ended up in Ohio.There is a story that George Gamble was the source of a great deal of humor to his family as he began homesteading his land, as apparently he knew very little about clearing land with an axe.

The Gamble families farmed near a place called Bowerston, Ohio, in Harrison county. I think Harrison county was made from part of Tuscarawas county or vice versa. The town of Bowerston was originally called One-Leg Township when they came to town, after a one legged Indian in the area. (There is a family legend that one of the Gambles --I think George--was run out of town on a rail as a joke when they first arrived, because they hadn't blown a horn placed on the outskirts of town to let townspeople know a newcomer was arriving).

The Gambles lived in and may have built a farmhouse in 1815 where Wilson Gamble and his siblings would have most likely been born. The Gambles lived in the house for at least 3 and maybe 4 generations. The house was occupied by a black couple in the 1960's. It had been added onto over the years by the Gamble generations, and apparently in the 1960's still had the original puncheon (hand-adzed) floors. I would love to know if this place still exists, and if it does, to have some photos of it…

Their original farm was known as the Tunnel Hill Farm, because in the 1850's the Pennsylvania railroad built a line across their farm, including a tunnel through a ridge that was visible from the house. There is a story of Wilson's younger brother David, when he first saw a train burst out of the tunnel into sight, running all the way to the house in terror (he was about 5 at the time, c. 1855).

Wilson's mother Isabel died when he was about 6 or 7. The step mother, Ruth Dew was a Quaker. (mom used to say she thought we had quaker in us somewhere, I assume this is what she was referring to). She died and there were two other wives for William Clifford Gamble.

Wilson's family raised sheep, corn and grain. William C. was known for his hospitality locally, and the house was a favorite social spot for ministers and young people in the area before the Civil War. He was known as "Uncle Willie", and wore "boiled shirts" (starched shirts). His father, the older William, brother of George, was known by the family as "the Auld Wan" (the old one) when Wilson was growing up.

Wilson's oldest brother, George Washington Columbus ("Cee") Gamble was a doctor.

His next oldest brother William was killed in the Civil War, dying 5 days before Appomattox. He had been engaged in 28 battles, dying in the last battle his regiment fought in. He was a member of the 43rd Ohio Infantry, along with Nana's mom Sarah's older brother James Hathaway, and a Hathaway cousin. The cousin, a little younger, also died of wounds 6 months after enlisting in the same 43rd Ohio, in Alabama in 1864.

James H. Hathaway (Wilson’s wife Sarah’s brother) was breveted to sergeant and helped to organize a colored infantry regiment, the 111th colored infantry. In their only battle, most of this regiment was captured by the Confederates. No record of James being captured.

Wilson was in the 69th Ohio Infantry, as well as the Pioneer Brigade of the Army of the Cumberland in the West. There's an excellent website about the Pioneer Brigade, that states that troops selected for this unit were the best 2 troops from each regiment. Wilson was in some of the bloodiest fighting in the West, particularly at Stones River in 1862-3, when his Pioneer unit helped to break the attack of Bragg's confederates in nearly point-blank fighting. Add to this the fact that Wilson himself is listed on his War Department record as having died in the sinking of the steamer "General Lyon" in April of 1865 (a major disaster only forgotten because the assassination of Lincoln hit the papers at the same moment), and if he did survive this, I can see why the Wilson and Sarah wanted to move on to another start, and not talk much about the Civil War.