Biography of Mrs. Gabrille Havens

MRS. GABRILLE HAVENS

Mrs. Gabrille Havens was born in Bradford county, Pennsylvania, near Luther's Mills, on February 25, 1820. She was the daughter of James H. and Susan B. Clark. There were nine children in the Clark family, namely, Polly, Gabrille, Rebecca, Visula, Weltha Ann, Emma Carline, Cynthia Mariah, Simon B., and James M. The father moved to Fairmount Township on February3 ,1838. Mrs. Havens was therefore eighteen years of age when she arrived. The Clark family came in two wagons, one drawn by horses and the other by an ox team. It required three days to complete the journey from Darke County, Ohio. Mrs. Havens has been of material assistance in connecting up past events with the present. At this writing (January 16, 1917), she is spending the winter with her granddaughter, Mrs. Frank McCombs, of Hartford City, Indiana. Although in her ninety-seventh year, her mind is as keen and active, apparently, as ever, and, barring unforeseen circumstances, she bids fair to live to see her one hundredth anniversary. Mrs. Havens has read the Bible through seventy times, besides the reading here and there at random in the Good Book. She completed the seventieth reading of the Scripture in the year 1915. The first President she remembers hearing her folks talk about when she was a girl at home was Andrew Jackson, when old Hickory was making his campaign in 1832, although being always an omnivorous reader, she was familiar with the name of the first President, and heard much of George Washington.