GAMALIEL PEASE, one of the extensive tobacco growers and general farmers of Miami township, Montgomery county, Ohio, is a native here and was born May 31, 1837, a son of George and Ellen (Wheatley) Pease.
George Pease, his father, was born in Suffield, Conn., November 25, 1798, and in his early manhood followed the profession of school-teaching. In 1825 he came west, crossing the mountains by stage to Pittsburg, Pa., where he and a companion purchased a canoe and floated down the Ohio river to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he passed the winter. In the spring of 1826, he came to Miami township, Montgomery county, and until 1828 stopped with his brother Perry, who was proprietor of a distillery at Lamme's Mills, and for a short time had charge of the distillery. He then moved to Carrollton, where he had charge of the mill office for his brothers, Horace and Perry, until 1848, when he purchased a home and engaged in miscellaneous activities. He was for a number of years treasurer and general manager of the Great Miami Turnpike company, but in 1868 retired from active business life.
The first marriage of George Pease took place August23, 1831, with Miss Ellen Wheatley, daughter of Richard and Hannah (Dunbar) Wheatley, of Washington township, to which union were born four children, viz: Mary and Mindwell, both now deceased; Gamaliel, and Ellen W., now Mrs. H. B. Ulm. Mrs. Pease died November 16, 1839, and the second marriage of Mr. Pease occurred April 6, 1841, with Miss Mary A. Lamme, daughter of David Lamme, one of the pioneers of the Miami valley, To this marriage were born three children —Horace L., David W. and Harriet (Mrs. George W. Hayes). Mr. Pease died February 23, 1880. He was made a Mason, in 1822, in Apollo lodge, at Suffield, Conn., and at the time of his death was an honored member of Minerva lodge, No. 98, at Miamisburg. He was also one of the organizers of the Presbyterian church at Carrollton. In politics he was first a whig and later a republican, and although active as a party man never sought political preference. In business he was a man of the most scrupulous integrity, and his death was sincerely mourned by the entire community in which he had passed so large a portion of his useful life.
Gamaliel Pease, the subject of this memoir, was educated in the common schools of Miami township and in the Miami Valley institute. In 1850 he went from Carrollton to Dayton and learned the molder's trade in the Buckeye foundry, and worked at this trade until 1857. In 1859 he returned to Carrollton, farmed for one year, and was then employed for a year in the distillery of his uncle, Perry Pease. December 14, 1861, he enlisted in company G, Sixty-ninth Ohio volunteer infantry, and took part in the battles of Gallatin, Murfreesboro (or Stone River), Chickamauga and Missionary Ridge. February 14, 1864, he was transferred from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Columbus, Ohio, where he was employed in the recruiting service until honorably discharged, February 20, 1865. After the war, he was engaged for five years in bridge building.
Mr. Pease was united in marriage, March 18, 1869, with Miss Mary Leisz, daughter of Jacob and Elizabeth (Wagner) Leisz, of Carrollton, and to this union have been born five children, viz: Oscar M., Jennie Gertrude (Mrs. Harry C. Weaver), George, Calvin and Myrtle. Since about the time of his marriage Mr. Pease has been engaged in general farming and tobacco raising, in which he has been eminently successful. Mr. Pease is a member of Al Mason post, No. 598, G. A. R., and is a republican. He and his family are among the foremost in the community, and he is a man who has faithfully filled all the stations of life, either as civilian or soldier.
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