Dorcy C. Gard
During many years Dorcy C. Gard has been residing in Sullivan County, and he has become prominent in its business life. He was born in Greenfield, Hancock County, Indiana, June 9, 1860, a son of George and Nancy (Smith ) Gard. The mother was also born in Greenfield, and she died in May of 1903. There her son Dorcy attended school in his youth, but his educational advantages were limited, and he was with his maternal grandparents from the time he was six weeks old until the age of seventeen. He then began work in a brickyard in Indianapolis, but after some years there he came to Sullivan county and worked as a farm hand until his marriage. Since that time he has been more or less identified with mining, but still continues the work of his farm when the mines are not in operation, being both a grain and stock raiser.
On the 23d of May, 1886, Mr. Gard was united in marriage to Harriette Bell French, a daughter of William and Ruth (Mattingly) French, both of whom were born in Mason County, Kentucky, and they were there married in March, 1862. In September of the same year they came to Sullivan County, Indiana. Mr. French's father had previously visited this community and entered a homestead, and William French built a home on his father's land, and there he died when his daughter Harriette was but fifteen months old. The widow continued to reside on the farm with his father for about seventeen years, and he then deeded her sixty acres of the land. in 1893 she sold her farm to the Coal Company and bought eighty acres where Mr. and Mrs. Gard now reside. In 1903 they built one of the neat and modest country residences in the township, located three-quarters of a mile west of Hymera, and there they expect to spend the remainder of their lives. In the French family there were three children:
Maggie, born March 6, 1863, married George Browning, and died on the 4th of December, 1892, after becoming the mother of a child which died in infancy. Mr. Browning now resides in Starr City, Sullivan County.
Harriette B., became the wife of Mr. Gard.
Mary Maria, born September 11, 1867, became the wife of Frank Hess and died October 6, 1893.
Five children have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Gard.
Myrtle, born March 15, 1887, is the wife of Austin Shipley, a carpenter and miner in Hymera, and their two children are Lucile, who was born May 24, 1906 and Dorcy, a little son.
Hattie Ethel, born April 18, 1889, died October 2, 1901.
Ruth Ann, born May 24, 1894, is at home.
Stella Marie, born March 5, 1896, at home.
Fannie I., born May 31, 1901, died December 11, 1903.
Mr. Gard has membership relations with the Masonic Order, the Home Defenders and the Eastern Star. He is a self made man in the truest sense of the word, and deserves much praise for the success he has achieved in life. His politics are Democratic, and he is a member of the Methodist Church.
Source: A History of Sullivan County, Indiana. Closing of the first century’s history of the county and showing the growth of its people, institutions, industries and wealth. Thomas J. Wolfe, Editor. The Lewis Publishing Company, 1909, page 178-179.