Harrison County, West Virginia Biography of William GASTON, M. D. ************************************************************************** USGENWEB NOTICE: Material may be freely used by non-commercial entities, as long as this message remains on all copied material, AND permission is obtained from the contributor of the file. These pages may NOT be reproduced in any format for profit or presentation by other organizations. Persons or organizations desiring to use this material for non-commercial purposes, MUST obtain the written consent of the contributor. Submitted by Valerie Crook, , March 2000 ************************************************************************** The History of West Virginia, Old and New Published 1923, The American Historical Society, Inc., Chicago and New York, Volume III, pg. 361-362 WILLIAM GASTON, M. D., of Clarksburg, has practiced medicine successfully for over thirty-six years. After at- tending the rural schools and Fairmont Normal School, and teaching school for four years, he read medicine one year under the preceptorship of his cousin, Dr. Florent Gibson, at Freemansburg, and then completed a course in medicine at the Eclectic Medical College, Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1884. He at once began the practice of medicine at Good Hope, Harrison County, and soon gained a lucrative clientele, remaining at that point until the spring of 1907, when he transferred his offices to Clarksburg. While residing at Good Hope he took a post-graduate course in medicine at the New York Polyclinic Hospital and Post-Graduate school at New York City, where he took a second course in 1909. Thus he has kept abreast of the advances in his profession. His is a general practice, and he has gained an honorable standing among the reputable medical men of Harrison County and a strong place in the confidence of the people. Doctor Gaston is a member of the Harrison County Medical Society, the West Virginia Medical Society and the American Medical Association, and belongs to the medical staff of St. Mary's Hospital, Clarksburg. He is a Knight Templar Mason and Noble of the Mystic Shrine, and in politics is a democrat. The Doctor has diversified business interests, including oil, as a producer. Dr. William Gaston is a native of Lewis County, West Virginia, where he was born on a farm May 18, 1859. Both paternally and maternally he comes of old and highly respected families of West Virginia. His parents were George and Martha Ann (Gibson) Gaston, the former born in Harrison County and the latter in Lewis County. His paternal grandparents were William and Mary (Post) Gas- ton, and his paternal great-grandparents came to West Virginia from their native state of New Jersey at a very early date, settling on Duck Creek, in what is now Harri- son County. The maternal grandparents of Doctor Gaston were Smith and Malinda (Hall) Gibson. The Gibsons came from old Virginia and settled in Upshur County, West Virginia. The paternal great-great-grandmother "mar- ried John Gaston, and her father was a Davison, a Revo- lutionary soldier. The parents of Doctor Gaston resided for many years in Freeman District, Lewis County, and both lived to bo beyond seventy years of age. They were United Brethren in church faith, and were the parents of six children: Willia; Edwin; Emma; Clark, deceased; Laura, and Ivan, deceased. The boyhood of Doctor Gaston was passed on the farm, where he learned the lessons of perseverance and industry which have been characteristic of his entire life. Doctor Gaston has been twice married and is now a widower. In 1884 he married Miss Nellie Thrash, who died in 1892, without leaving children. In 1894 Doctor Gaston married Mrs. Susan Easter, nee Wolfe, who bore him two sons, Howe Russell and William Bryan. and in June, 1921. was called in death. Both of Doctor Gaston's sons rendered service to their country during the great World war. Howe Russell Gaston enlisted in the United States Regular Army in 1916, and when the United States became involved in the greatest of all wars was trans- ferred from Troop F, Fourteenth Cavalry, to Company C, Third Division Ammunition Train, and went overseas March 2, 1918, then as corporal, but later became acting first sergeant. He rendered service overseas for eighteen months in the Ammunition Train Division of his unit, and took part in the defensive and offensive at the Marne, was in the St. Mihiel and Argonne campaigns, and later was with the Army of Occupation in Germany. His honorable discharge was dated in April. 1920, and he is now a suc- cessful traveling salesman and a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. William Bryan Gaston volunteered in the service of the United States Army the day after he wag twenty-one years of age, at Pittsburgh. He was sent first to Camp Meade, later to Annapolis, still later to Wash- ington, District of Columbia, and in February, 1918. went overseas with the Twenty-third Engineers, an entirely vol- unteer organization. He rendered service in the truck train for nineteen months in France, and received his hon- orable discharge in July, 1919. He is a member of the American Legion and Clarksburg Lodge No. 155. A. F. and A. M. He is now a medical student at the University of Maryland, Baltimore.