Willard Gay, Original Selectman, Emeline & Warren

Willard Gay (1818-1882)

Emeline Rhoades Gay (1818-1877)

Warren Fisher Gay (1851-1852)                                         

Willard Gay was born on January 3, 1818. He was the son of Lt. Oliver Gay and Mary Fisher Gay. Willard Gay was a farmer.

Site of Gay farm in 1851, Pleasant & Cross Sts.

Pleasant & Cross Sts. as it appeared in 2023.

On November 15, 1840, Willard Gay married Emeline Rhoades, the daughter of Lewis Rhoades and his wife Hannah Ellis Rhoades. Emeline had been born on December 27, 1818.

Gay & Rhoades Marriage License

Willard and Emeline had six children: George, Mary, Emma, Oliver, Warren, and Ebenezer.

Their son Warren Fisher Gay was born on February 11, 1851. Tragically, the boy died on October 1, 1852 of dysentery. Their other children lived to adulthood.

19th century "cure" for dysentery.

Willard Gay was well-respected in South Dedham village and when the town of Norwood was incorporated, he served as one of the town’s first Selectmen from 1872 until 1876.

Emeline Rhoades Gay died on February 18, 1877. She was likely interred in Old Parish Cemetery, along with son Warren, in lot 82, which was the Gay family lot. Willard Gay died on January 31, 1882.

Boston Post Feb. 1, 1882

Willard, Emeline, and their son Warren, are all now interred in Highland Cemetery, lot 137 as are Willard Gay’s parents.