A 4"x6" glass plate negative, bust-portrait photograph of Gideon Gates, David City, Nebraska. Gideon is wearing a dark suit, white shirt and dark bow tie.
Thorpe Opera House Foundation/Boston Studio Project
Local Accession Number
00092160000
Source
Original format: 4"x6" glass plate negative from the Boston Studio Project collection.
Historical Notes
Gideon Gates was born in Illinois, September 8, 1860, to William F. and Eliza Warne Gates. The family lived in Iowa for 9 years before moving to David City, Nebraska, in June of 1876, where his father started one of the earliest bakeries in Nebraska. Gid worked for his father in the bakery business in downtown David City most of his life. He became a partner and eventually sole owner of Gates Bakery after the death of his father. He married Jennie Gibson, April 13, 1878, and they had three children: Archie, Nadine and Lucile. Gid was also an inventor and secured a patent on a candy dispensing machine, August 26, 1902. The dispenser was in the shape of a man's head (Happy Jap) and dispensed a stick of gum from his mouth. Gideon was active in many civic organizations. He was a member of I.O.O.F. Lodge for 43 years and the Knights of Pythias for 42 years. He died in 1928 and is buried in the David City Cemetery.
