Background
Elijah Hedding Gammon began life on Gilmore Pond Plantation, now Lexington, Maine. He was the son of Samuel H. and Melinda (Quint) Gammon. His father was a poor farmer, and Elijah left home at seventeen to make his own way in the world.
(Excerpt from Rev. Elijah H. Gammon: A Memorial Address De...)
Excerpt from Rev. Elijah H. Gammon: A Memorial Address Delivered on Founder's Day, December Twenty-Third, 1891 The mind loves a shining mark. The emblazoned deeds of the orator statesman, soldier, stir the imagination and command the homage of men. The quiet deeds of even the great and good that have larger and more lasting significance in the welfare of a race or the life of a nation, go almost unheralded and often unsung. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
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clergyman manufacturer philanthropist
Elijah Hedding Gammon began life on Gilmore Pond Plantation, now Lexington, Maine. He was the son of Samuel H. and Melinda (Quint) Gammon. His father was a poor farmer, and Elijah left home at seventeen to make his own way in the world.
Elijah Hedding Gammon was converted and began studying for the ministry, supporting himself in the meantime by teaching.
At the age of twenty-four, Gammon was received into the Maine Conference of the Methodist Church and stationed at Wilton where he received a salary of $100 a year.
After serving other churches in Maine, in 1851, he was prompted by a severe bronchial affection to go to Illinois in the hope of improving his health. He first settled at Ross Grove, De Kalb County, and opened a private school; but in 1852, he was admitted to the Rock River Conference and put in charge of the church in St. Charles.
In 1853, he was appointed to the Jefferson Street Church, Chicago; in 1854, to Batavia; and from 1855 to 1858, he was presiding elder of the St. Charles District. By this time his bronchial trouble so interfered with his work that he decided to retire from the active ministry.
He first connected himself with Newton & Company of Batavia, and when the partnership expired in 1861, having had a vision of the great future for harvesting machinery, Gammon established a large distributing house in Chicago, forming a partnership with J. D. Easter.
Seeing the possibilities in the harvester devised by Charles W. and William W. Marsh, Easter and Gammon secured the exclusive right to its sale in six western states, and in the face of many difficulties, succeeded in bringing it into wide use.
In 1868, they dissolved partnership, dividing the territory they held under the Marsh patents. Gammon then took James P. Prindle into partnership and in acquired an interest in the Plano shops controlled by the Marshes and Lewis Stewart.
In Prindle retired and with William Deering Gammon formed the firm of Gammon & Deering, which became sole owner of the Plano plant. Gammon sold his interest to Deering in 1879, but in 1880, the latter having moved the business to Chicago, Gammon, William H. Jones, and others, formed the Plano Manufacturing Company, which took over the old shop and was soon numbered among the most important concerns engaged in the building of twine-binding harvesters. Of this company Gammon was vicepresident at the time of his death.
In his later years, he established a home in Batavia where he engaged in the banking business.
Elijah Hedding Gammon was a pioneer promoter of farm machinery in the Middle West, his sagacity, foresight, energy, and assurance making him one of the leading manufacturers and distributors in his field and enabling him to acquire a large fortune. Much of the wealth he devoted to religious and educational purposes.
(Excerpt from Rev. Elijah H. Gammon: A Memorial Address De...)
Gammon never lost his interest in the church and remained a member of the Rock River Conference as long as he lived. Much of the wealth which he acquired he devoted to religious and educational purposes.
He gave liberally to the Maine Wesleyan Seminary, and to the Garrett Biblical Institute, of which he was long a trustee; but his chief benefaction was the establishment and endowment of the Gammon Theological Seminary, Atlanta, Georgia, an institution to train colored men for the ministry of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
To this, he gave $250, 000 during his lifetime, and by the provisions of his will it received from his estate almost as much more.
In 1843, Gammon married Sarah J. Cutler. His first wife had died in 1855, and in 1856, he had married Mrs. Jane Prindle Colton.
