Norwood's Vet: His Family & His Tragedy
- Patricia Fanning
- Jun 20
- 2 min read
Updated: Jun 21
Jarvis Gay (1803-1882)
Fanny Lewis Dean Gay (1806-1891)
Jarvis Gay, Jr. (1829-1894)
Frances Gay (1827-1827)
Albert Gay (1835-1839)
Elmer E. Gay (1861-1936)

Jarvis Gay was born on August 26, 1803 in Dedham. His parents were Jesse Gay (1780-1857) and Lucy Fairbanks Gay (1783-1840). On July 6, 1825 he married Fanny Lewis Dean, the daughter of Samuel H. Dean and Deborah Lewis Dean (lot 66).
Jarvis Gay became a veterinarian. He was a successful vet in the South Dedham and Canton area for many years. He died on June 19, 1882 of a gunshot wound. Likely confused while returning from Canton in the middle of the night, he attempted to gain access to a home on Neponset Street which had been his father’s home at one time. The resident, thinking someone was trying to break into the house, shot him. All agreed it was an accidental shooting.

Jarvis Gay’s widow, Fanny L. Dean Gay, passed away on January 19, 1891.

Jarvis and Fanny had four children. Two died very young. Frances, who was born on January 1, 1827, died on June 28, 1827; Albert, who was born on April 15, 1835, died on March 26, 1839.

Jarvis Gay Jr. was born on February 14, 1829. He married Martha I. Kendall on November 23, 1853. Jarvis Jr. was a cabinet maker and, later, a teamster. He died on April 19, 1894 of asthma. Martha Kendall Gay died in 1923.

Frances Jane Gay was born on September 1, 1840. She married Leonard Lowell, a Civil War veteran. Frances died in 1922. Leonard and Frances Gay Lowell are interred in lot 116.
Also buried in lot 95 is Elmer E. Gay, the son of Jarvis Gay Jr. and his wife, Martha Kendall Gay. Elmer was born in 1861 and died in 1937.
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