William Francis Gable (1856 - 1921)

Born 12 Feb 1856 in Chester, Pennsylvania, US

Husband of Kate Elizabeth (Boyer) Gable — married 7 May 1879 in Reading, Berks, Pennsylvania, USA

Descendants

Died 28 Nov 1921 at age 65 in Altoona, Blair, Pennsylvania, US

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Biography

William was born on his father’s farm in Chester County, Pennsylvania 12 Feb 1856. He went to high school in Reading and then business college. 1860 Census 4-year-old William living with his family: father Isaac Gable (37-year-old farmer), mother Hannah (34) and his 10-month-old sister Hannah. There are two other men in the family: 15-year-old Samuel Sterges (listed as attending school) and 33-year-old Hollen Buckhalter (or Buckwalter). The house is $400 and personal property $300, which is far less than anyone else nearby. Everyone in the family was born in Pennsylvania. By 1870, Isaac is employed as a butcher, and they house they live in is about triple the value of 1860. William and his sister (recorded as “Anna”) attend school. Their mother Hannah is “keeping house.” William married to 19-year-old Kate E. Boyer on 7 May 1879. His employment is listed as “Bookkeeper” and he resides at 939 Washington St. in Reading PA. The ceremony is recorded as “Baptist”, the only one on a page full of Lutherans, Methodists, and Reformed. In 1880, the family resides at 939 Washington Street in Reading, Berks, PA. 58-year-old Isaac is a “Retired Farmer” due to Rheumatism. Hannah is still keeping house. William is 24, now married and his wife Katie (Kate Elizabeth Boyer, 1860-1926) lives there as well. He is employed as a “Clerk in Store.” The family moved to Altoona in 1884 and William opened the store that would ultimately grown into a centerpiece of the Altoona business and commercial district on March 1, 1884.

By 1900, things have changed entirely. William F. Gable is the head of the family, living in Altoona at 1121 14th Avenue. He is 44 and listed as a “Dealer in General Merchandise”, having built his store 9 years previously. His wife is listed as Catherine instead of the usual Kate. Eight of what will be 9 children are born: Edna Luella in April 1881, Bayard W in March 1883, Lowell B in February 1887, Gertrude in Sept 1889, Robert B in May 1892, Anna K in June 1896, and George P in March 1898. Also at home is his unmarried sister Anna, now 39 and a Dry Goods bookkeeper, and his father Isaac, still listing himself as a “farmer” at 77 (William’s mother Hannah died in 1896). There is also a servant, Annie Shiffler, age 21. Missing is Elizabeth S. (who died in infancy in 1888) and the not-yet-born Mary V. (July 1901). The address is now a church parking lot.

On the 1910 Census the family is at the same address. Five of the children are still at home (Gertrude, Robert, Anna, George and Mary) as is sister Annie, now 50 and not employed. 17-year-old son Robert is a Department Store Clerk. William is listed as a “Dry Goods Merchant”. There is a different domestic, a 40-year-old Welsh woman named Mary A. Davis. Sadly, their oldest son Bayard has died earlier in the year. William’s father Isaac passed away in 1903.

By 1920 just George and Mary are living at home (same address). George is 21 and a salesman in a department store. Sister “Anna”, now 60, is living with them as is their domestic Mary Ann Davis. Mary is now a naturalized citizen, and is noted as having come to the US in 1879 when she would have been about 1. William’s employment is now “Retail Merchant of a Department Store”. George will take over the management of Gabel’s Department Store when William dies suddenly on 28 Nov 1921.

The first incarnation of Gable’s store was a single room. In 1891, Gable's built a Victorian Neoclassical style building, in downtown Altoona. It was in this building that the Gable's Department Store became the forerunner of the modern department store. By 1913, Gable's was the most complete department store in the state of Pennsylvania. It had come to be known as "the people's store." William Gable was also active in many community affairs.

After the death of William Gable, the William F. Gable Company continued to be run by the Gable family. In 1923, the company bought the WGAW AM radio station, and changed the name to WFBG, after William F. B. Gable. In 1948, WFBG FM was licensed. In 1952, WFBG-TV was licensed, with its first broadcast being March 1, 1953. The television station was sold in 1956. It still operates today as WTAJ. In 1968, the Gable's Department Store was sold to L.S. Good & Co. In 1980, L.S. Good filed for bankruptcy and the store was closed, and all that remained of the once mighty store was a sign, on a now empty building. The closing of Gable's was the beginning of the end for downtown Altoona. Soon after, most of the larger stores were gone from the area.

Sources

• "United States Census, 1860," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GBSF-PTL?cc=1473181&wc=7QTM-9QR%3A1589434177%2C1589434535%2C1589435232 : 24 March 2017), Pennsylvania > Chester > Wallace > image 18 of 20; from "1860 U.S. Federal Census - Population," database, Fold3.com (http://www.fold3.com : n.d.); citing NARA microfilm publication M653 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1870," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-688D-SP?cc=1438024&wc=9223-PT5%3A518666601%2C519769501%2C519801801 : 22 May 2014), Pennsylvania > Berks > Reading, ward 1 > image 5 of 72; citing NARA microfilm publication M593 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "Pennsylvania, County Marriages, 1885-1950," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-681S-X4B?cc=1589502&wc=Q6V1-S1H%3A1590243070%2C1590243082 : 16 December 2016), Berks > Marriage returns, 1876-1886 > image 67 of 253; county courthouses, Pennsylvania.

• "United States Census, 1880," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9YB8-Y13?cc=1417683&wc=QZ2Q-LTC%3A1589394781%2C1589394780%2C1589394778%2C1589394750 : 24 December 2015), Pennsylvania > Berks > Reading > ED 53 > image 28 of 43; citing NARA microfilm publication T9 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1900," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HT-D1D9-1RJ?cc=1325221&wc=9BQR-NQJ%3A1030550501%2C1034092001%2C1034097901 : 5 August 2014), Pennsylvania > Blair > ED 36 Precinct 1 Altoona city Ward 1 > image 10 of 19; citing NARA microfilm publication T623 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33SQ-GRK7-RCH?cc=1727033&wc=QZZ4-Y9Z%3A133638001%2C140399001%2C140402901%2C1589089286 : 24 June 2017), Pennsylvania > Blair > Altoona Ward 1 > ED 34 > image 32 of 50; citing NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• "United States Census, 1920," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:33S7-9RF7-HV?cc=1488411&wc=QZJT-Z1B%3A1036473501%2C1038454101%2C1038614801%2C1589332571 : 14 December 2015), Pennsylvania > Blair > Altoona Ward 1 > ED 38 > image 12 of 29; citing NARA microfilm publication T625 (Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, n.d.).

• Obituary from Altoona Tribune, 28 Nov 1921.

• Background text from Find-A-Grave Entry, Memorial #8039281.