R. M. GEE'S SONS. The members of this family are of English descent. The pioneers of the family in America were Moses, William and Joshua Gee; but from Moses Gee this special branch is descended. He emigrated with his brothers and landed at Plymouth, Mass. John, the grandson of Moses, was a millwright. He died at Wilkesbarre, Penn., at the age of one hundred and five years, and with the honor of service in the Revolutionary war. Samuel Gee, son of John (who had fifteen children, most of whom settled in Pennsylvania and New York), was born and reared in New York State, where, when a lad, he learned the millwright's trade-a trade he followed in New York and Pennsylvania. He married Hannah Hopkins (a niece of Stephen Hopkins-the tenth signer of the Declaration of Independence). They had thirteen children, among whom were John, James, Ransom M., Sylvester and Ruth. Samuel settled with his wife at Painted Post, Penn., where he constructed the first turbine water-wheel in that section, and where he was known as an uncompromising Democrat and Presbyterian. Ransom M. Gee was born in 1818, in Elmira, N. Y., where he was reared and educated. At the age of fourteen years he commenced to learn harness-making with a brother-in-law at Williamsport, Penn., with whom he lived, having left the paternal roof at that early age. When eighteeen years old he moved to Massachusetts, and there learned the trade of marble cutter with his brother John, and when twenty-one years old he opened a shop in that line at Elmira, N. Y., where he remained until 1847, in which year he went to Waupun, Wis., and after three years' residence there, he proceeded to Allegheny county, where, in West Newton and elsewhere he carried on his trade until 1852, when he came to Monongahela and opened a shop in the first ward, near the present river bridge, and here carried on a prosperous marble and granite business until his death, March 27, 1890; he was also a contractor for the building of bridges from 1853 to 1857. He married Mary M., daughter of Samuel Gangwere, a native of Pennsylvania, of German ancestry, and whose children were Elizabeth, Sarah, Mary M., and Samuel. Mr. Gangwere was by trade a millwright, in politics a Democrat, in religion a Baptist. The children born to Mr. And Mrs. Ransom M. Gee were as follows: Oris D. (Mrs. William Oliver), Joseph L. (deceased), William R. (deceased), William M., John R. (deceased), Alexander (deceased), Charles W., Ada L. and Samuel M. The mother died September 11, 1885. Mr. Gee was a Democrat, and held various offices of trust in the city of his adoption; was a school director, and always took an active interest in everything tending to the prosperity of his section. He was for many years a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, but during the later years of his life, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and was a vestryman of St. Paul's. Mrs. Mary M. Gee was a Baptist. WILLIAM M. GEE was born in Pennsylvania March 18, 1845, and received a liberal education in the schools of Monongahela, where his parents settled in 1852. He was employed in the river traffic as far as New Orleans, and became a licensed pilot on the Monongahela river, which he followed ten years. On November 10, 1869, he married Elizabeth, daughter of Jacob Ulery, of this county, and their children were Ransom M., Charles W., Mary, Jacob, Alfred D., and Lillie, all now deceased except the last named. CHARLES W. GEE was born in Fond du Lac county, Wis., October 23, 1849, and received his education at the public schools of Monongahela. On March 9, 1876, he married Rosanna, daughter of Jonas Weygandt, of Carroll township, this county, and their children are as follows: Two that died in infancy, Desdemona, Theodore P., Charles F., Benjamin F., Sarah, and John R., the latter deceased. SAMUEL M. GEE was born September 29, 1856, in Monongahela, his education being received at the public schools. On April 11, 1878, he married Emma, daughter of Thomas Wilson, and their children are William T., Ada L., Nancy D., Zilla H. A., Bessie L and Margaret L. Since the death of Ransom M. Gee the firm has been known as R. M. Gee's Sons, and they conduct the largest works of the kind in the Monongahela Valley, carrying a full line of marbles and granites besides a complete assortment of iron fence work. The brothers are all Democrats and members of the Episcopal Church and M. E. Church.

Text taken from page 683 of: Beers, J. H. and Co., Commemorative Biographical Record of Washington County, Pennsylvania (Chicago: J. H. Beers & Co., 1893). Transcribed February 1998 by Kathy Lininger of Celina, OH as part of the Beers Project. Published February 1998 on the Washington County, PA USGenWeb pages at http://www.chartiers.com/.

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