BIOS: John H. GARDNER, M.D., Stoystown, Somerset County, PA

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BIOGRAPHICAL REVIEW, Vol. XXXII, Containing Life Sketches of Leading Citizens of 
Bedford and Somerset Counties, Pennsylvania. Boston, Biographical Review 
Publishing Company: 1899, pp 135-136.

  John H. Gardner, M.D., one of the leading physicians and surgeons of 
Stoyestown, Pa., was born near this borough, April 18, 1857, a son of Peter F. 
and Susan (Lohr) Gardner.  His ancestors on both sides of the house were among 
the early settlers of Pennsylvania, and many of them acquired large landed 
possessions.
  The founder of the Gardner family, whose Christian name is not known, was a 
native of Great Britain, born either in England or in Scotland.  He married a 
woman of German descent, and coming with her to America, settled in Lancaster 
County, this State.
  His son George was a native of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania.  He married 
Barbara Fry, and for a number of years they made their home in York County, 
where all of their children, eight in number, were born.  They subsequently 
removed to Quemahoning, Somerset County, and engaged in agricultural work.  
Their fourth child, a son named Peter, was Dr. Gardner's grandfather.
  Peter Gardner came with his parents from York County to Quemahoning, where he 
was employed as a tiller of the soil during the active portion of his entire 
sixty-five years of life.  He was a member of the Lutheran church, while his 
good wife worshipped at the United Brethren church, which she joined when young.  
Her maiden name was Nancy Ober.  They had thirteen children, of whom four are 
now living, namely: Peter F., the sixth child; James; Julia; and Nancy.
  Peter F. Gardner was born September 16, 1827, on the old home farm in 
Quemahoning.  In early manhood he learned the carpenter's trade of Benjamin 
Berkey in Stoyestown, and for fifteen years he worked steadily as a carpenter 
and joiner.  Having accumulated some money, he then purchased a farm in 
Jennerstown, near Stanton Mills, where he has since been profitably engaged in 
his chosen occupation, and holds a substantial position among the foremost 
farmers of his neighborhood.  For half a century he has been a conspicuous 
member of the Lutheran church, in which he has served as trustee, Elder, and 
Deacon.  In politics he has been identified with the Republican party since its 
formation.  Prior to that time he was a Whig, and cast his first Presidential 
vote for General Taylor.  He married Susan Lohr, who was born in Quemahoning, 
September 7, 1831, a daughter of Henry and Mary (Studebaker) Lohr.  Of the nine 
children that blessed their union, five are now living, as follows: John H., 
Luther T., George B., Martha, and Sidney.  Luther T. Gardner married Lavina 
Stahl, and has three children- Susan, Lulu, and Annie K.  George B. Gardner 
married Linnie Horner, and they have two children- George and Nancy.  Henry Lohr 
was a well-to-do farmer of Quemahoning, where he was one of the most influential 
citizens of the town and for a number of years the Justice of the Peace.  He 
belonged to the United Brethren church, and for years was one of its principal 
supporters.  His father, George Lohr, the Doctor's great-grandfather, was also a 
farmer in Quemahoning.  He married Barbara Miller, who bore him six children, of 
whom one, Joseph is still living.
  John H. Gardner in his early years attended the public schools of Stoyestown 
and Jennerstown, and after completing his course of study at the Normal School 
in Stoyestown and at Indiana, Pa., he taught six terms of school in Jennerstown, 
where in 1880 he took the census.  In 1883 he was graduated from the Ohio 
Medical College, Cincinnati, and for nine years thereafter he practiced his 
profession in Stoyestown.  In 1892 he took a post-graduate course at the Chicago 
University, and was graduated from the Homoeopathic Medical College.  He then 
resumed his practice in Stoyestown, and to-day is one of the most successful and 
popular practitioners of this locality.  For the past six years Dr. Gardner has 
been surgeon for the Baltimore & Ohio Railway Company and a member of the 
International Association of Railway Surgeons.  He is a member of the United 
States Pension Examining Board for Somerset County, and office to which he was 
appointed under President McKinley's administration.  He belongs to the Somerset 
County Medical Society and to the Medical Society of the State of Pennsylvania.  
He is a stanch Republican in politics, and has held various offices of trust, 
including that of Burgess of the borough of Stoyestown, which he filled in 1886 
and 1887.
  On March 4, 1884, Dr. Gardner married Susan Marion Horner, who was born July 
25, 1865, daughter of Jacob H. and Elizabeth (Horner) Horner, of Jennerstown, 
and the tenth of a family of eleven children.  Four children have blessed their 
union, three of whom are living, namely: Abbott B., born December 25, 1884; Edna 
June, born June 23, 1887; and Elizabeth, born August 1, 1891.  Dr. and Mrs. 
Gardner are active members of the Lutheran church, of which he was Deacon for 
several years, and is now one of the trustees.