Nicholas P. Gasaway, of the firm of Gasaway and Son, general merchants of Latham, Illinois, was born in Ross county, Ohio, March 4, 1848, a son of J. D. and Martha J. (Caldwell) [Colwell] Gasaway. He was four years of age when his father left Ohio and located in Springfield, Illinois, where they spent one winter, going then to Lake Fork township, Logan county, where the father bought land, and upon that farm our subject grew to manhood. There was much to be done, as his father raised many head of cattle, and the only schooling he received was through the winter months.

When almost twenty-one our subject was married, February 12, 1869, to Miss Eliza J. Sherer [Shyer], of Lake Fork, Illinois, who was born in Grant county, Kentucky and came to Illinois with her father, David Sherer, when she was a child. After marriage, Mr. Gasaway engaged in farming on his father's land for a few years, but later he bought eighty acres of wild land, for which he paid twenty-seven dollars an acre, and followed farming until 1900. Mr. and Mrs. Gasaway have had a family of five children, and four of these children are still living. A sad blow was given our subject and wife in the death of the only daughter, Carrie E., a sweet girl of sixteen. The sons all grew to maturity and are among the most honored and highly respected citizens of this county, namely: Thomas, who is a partner in the mercantile business with his father, in Latham; J. D., who is an extensive farmer in Lake Fork township; Levi who is also a farmer in Lake Fork township; John, the youngest, who is an efficient clerk in his father's store.

Our subject was reared in the Democratic party and imbued with its principles and he was still young when he began to take and active interest in political matters. As early as 1885 he was chosen supervisor of Lake Fork township, and for the twenty succeeding years no change was made in the incumbency of that office. He was the chairman of the board of supervisors during the last five years of his official connection with the board, and during his administration many improvements of a substantial character were made in the county. It was through his instrumentality that eighty acres of land were added to the county farm, and it was his good management, that gained the county ten iron bridges, there being the first of the kind ever built here. Mr. Gasaway had the interests of the poor farm at heart and he did much toward its improvement and upbuilding (sic) during his management of the office.

In 1898 the esteem in which he was held by his fellow citizens was shown by his election as their representative to the forty-first general assembly, which met in 1899. During his term of service he was on the important committee on banking, public buildings, and sanitary committees, fulfilling all the duties pertaining to these public trusts with ability and efficiency. He has been sent as a delegate many times to convention, being some five times a state delegate. His political record is an enviable one, and he is well and thoroughly known through the county, his public life having brought him into contact with the most of the prominent citizens of the state.

Biographical Record of Logan County, published in 1901 Chicago: S.J. Clarke Publishing Co., Page 5O8.

Submitted by the late Penny Husler.