William Gordon

NJGenWeb ~ Morris County, New Jersey

William Gordon

Source: History Morris County New Jersey, Volume II, Lewis Publishing Co., 1914

Although he has reached the grand old age of seventy-four years, William GORDON still retains in much of their pristine vigor the splendid mental and physical qualities of his prime. His honorable career and exemplary life command to him the unalloyed confidence and esteem of his fellow men at Boonton, where he has lived in retirement during the past four years. His ancestry is of old New England stock, and one of the grandsires, David GORDON, was a soldier in the war of the Revolution, having been a member of the Fifth Company of Foot Soldiery, First New Jersey Regiment, in which he served with the utmost valor from the 24^th of July, 1777, to January, 1783. William GORDON is a son of John H. GORDON, who was engaged in the manufacturing of lime and stone quarry, at Turkey mountain, this county, for a number of years. His first wife was Nancy ATNO and this union was prolific of three children: Abram L., Ann, Joseph. For his second wife Mr. GORDON married Mary Ann FICHTER and she bore him seven children, namely: David R., Mary Elizabeth, Martha, Nancy A., William, John, Jacob, Charles, Wesley.

William GORDON was born in Morris county, New Jersey, March 6, 1839, being the fifth in order of birth of the children born to John H. GORDON by his second wife. He attended the common schools of his native place until he reached the age of thirteen years and then assumed the active responsibilities of life by driving a team. Subsequently he accepted a position on the Morris canal, on which he was employed for the ensuing ten years. In 1868 he began to work for the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad Company and so satisfactory were his services that he continued in the employ of that corporation for the ensuing forty years, at the end of which time he was retired from further service with a pension. He was a mechanic and his railroad work consisted in taking care of the water works located between Hoboken, New Jersey, and Easton, Pennsylvania, and its branches. In politics he owns a stalwart allegiance to the Republican party, and his fraternal connections are with the Free and Accepted Masons, at Boonton.

In 1860 Mr. GORDON married Susan A. UNANGST, a native of Warren county, New Jersey, daughter of John and Mary Jane (KINNEY) UNANGST. The UNANGST family consisted of the following children: Susan A., Martha C., Mary F., Charles E., Samantha S., John W., Christopher T., Elizabeth, Alex B., Hattie. Mrs. GORDON is now seventy years of age and like her husband is enjoying splendid health. Mr. and Mrs. GORDON have four children, concerning whom the following brief data are here inserted: 1. Laura, born January 16, 1862; wife of C. Byron DIXON, engaged in the ice business. 2. Frederick, president of the Frederick GORDON Company, of Boonton, mentioned on other pages of this work. 3. Mary, born April 6, 1869; wife of Charles KINCAID. 4. Harry, born September 27, 1880; a civil engineer and now in the employ of the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. Mr. and Mrs. GORDON are fervent members of the Methodist Episcopal church, to whose charitable work they are generous contributors. They are both kind-hearted and genial in disposition and their many good, neighborly acts have greatly endeared them to their fellow citizens.

Transcribed by John Cresseveur (1949-2003)