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Can anyone out there clear up a William Gann I.D. problem?
I had always assumed I was descended from the William Gann who was a son of Solomon and Malinda Gann. This always gave me a nice neat line back to Nathan et al. When I look in William Robert (Billy Bob) Gann and Gary R. Toms’ book “The Ignatious Nathan Gann Family: Three Generations of Pioneers,” Third Edition, on page 283, I become confused.
Solomon and Malinda’s son William (mentioned there) seems to be a different person than my Great Grandfather. At least the children listed there don’t match my family.
My Great Grandfather William Gann was a blacksmith in Cameron, Texas. I believe he was born in 1955. Grandfather Elmore said his father William died rather young when Elmore (born 1890) was just a boy, circa 1902-05. He was married to Clare Bollinger. He and Clare had these children: Willie, Lloyd, Addie, Della, Elmore Bollinger (my Grandfather), and David C.
Elmore always told an interesting story about his father and someone asked me to write it for the Gann Gazette. I suppose this is as good a place as any to put this story down for posterity, the Gann Gazette, or for whoever might find it useful or interesting. I’d be happy with more information on William Gann.
As the blacksmith in Cameron, Texas, William was given the task of doing the metal work on the town’s new gallows. At that time, a man came to town looking for either another William Gann or a man with a similar sounding name, like Cann, Mann, or whatever. Regardless, this man had a score to settle and intended to kill someone.
Unlike gunslingers of the Old West, this guy was just some angry farmer. He carried his six-shooter in a shoebox on the wagon seat beside him as he drove into town. Sad to report that there were no black hats, swinging saloon doors, or high-noon showdown on a dusty Texas street that day. But there was a quick draw, of sorts.
When the vengeance-seeker asked about his quarry, everybody thought he was looking for William Gann and directed him to the jail. William was there busily working on the gallows.
According to William’s story told to Elmore, the shoebox-toting desperado confronted William with the gun, and was promptly cracked across the skull and killed with a piece of metal bar. William happened to have the bar in his hand and had to fling it across the room to keep from being shot. Thus, did William Gann become the fastest blacksmith in Cameron, Texas.
He always said thereafter that he build the new gallows in Cameron, and became the first candidate to be hung on them. Evidently there was an inquiry into the man’s death, and this established the case mixed identity, some sort of grudge, and the killing was ruled as self-defense.
The only other interesting thing my Grandfather Elmore told about his father William, was that he died quite young after a long illness. Elmore said he was just a boy (I think from 12 to 15 years old) and was left with the responsibility of making a cotton crop to save his family from starvation. Elmore, who died here in California at age 91, was always proud of his successful cotton crop that year. Indeed, he repeated the process for most of the next 8 decades.
He was also proud that his farming prowess helped liberate his family from the evil grasp of a medieval land baron in the Cameron, Texas area named Batt. “Old Man Batt,” as Elmore always called him, came to own most of the land, town, and people around Cameron. Batt even printed his own money, (Batt Money) ignored anti-slave laws into the 20th Century, and ran a company store in the area. In dealing with his workers, Batt had a simple human resource motto: “Kill a white man, hire another one, kill a black man (inserted euphemism here) buy another one.” William’s untimely death had evidently left the Ganns in dept to Batt. Through years of hard work, Elmore was eventually able to help himself and widowed mother Clare escape the dept peonage trap of the evil Batt man.
That's the story and they all lived happly ever after.
So what I’d like to know is who was William Gann’s father, (if not Solomon) and where do I sow him into colorful quilt of Gann family history?
I also wonder who the man was that William killed. I wonder who it was this man wanted to kill in the first place? Suppose that was Solomon's son William? Sometimes my grandfather would tell the story as if the man was looking for another William Gann. What do you suppose he did? Any help will be appreciated. Sincerely, William Elmore (Billy Elmore) Gann
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