Cicero T. Gass. Among the prominent farmers and successful citizens of Center Township, Dade County, Mo., stands the name of the above-mentioned gentleman, who resides two-and-a-half miles northwest of Greenfield. He was born in Richland County, Ohio, in 1827, and is the son of Benjamin and Elizabeth (McClure) Gass. Benjamin Gass was born in Pennsylvania in 1797, was a farmer by occupation, and was a soldier in the War of 1812. He went to Richland County, Ohio, and was married there, and there passed his life. He died in 1878. His wife, Elizabeth (McClure) Gass, was born in Virginia in 1797, and died in 1865. She was the mother of five children. Cicero T. Gass was the eldest of these children, and remained with his parents until twenty-one years of age. He was in quartermaster’s department during the war, and in 1863 was united in marriage to Miss Margaret Castor, who was born in Richland County, Ohio, in 1842. Three children were the fruits of this union: James, Mary and Charles. In 1866 Mr. Gass moved to Grundy County, Mo., and in 1867 to Crawford County, Kan., where he remained until 1873, when he moved to Dade County, Mo., and bought 160 acres, where he now lives, and where he has since resided. He is now the owner of 280 acres, and is a well-to-do farmer. In politics he is a Republican. His grandfather, William Gass, was a member of the State Senate in Ohio, from Richland County, for a number of years, and the brother of William Gass, Patrick Gass, was with Lewis and Clarke on their famous expedition through the West.
