Samuel Gann of Winchester Va Family

From June Harting, West Bloomfield, MI Bertha Mae Knight appears in the 1900 census, Miller Township, Gentry County, Missouri, page 327 B, Sheet 9, line 82.

Barton Gann came to be a barber in Bertha's father's shop in the family's hotel, and when Bertha's mother saw him walking up the street from the railroad station, she told Bertha, "Well, there's my son-in-law!" Bertha was furious, but of course it came true.

Bertha Mae Knight received musical training at a finishing school in Missouri, but she didn't go alone. Her grandmother, Elizabeth Wickline Knight Key Wallace, went along to the school as her chaperone, and kept house for her there. As a young woman, Bertha had a classic "Gibson Girl" face and figure, and Barton Gann said she was the prettiest girl in the county. After her marriage to Barton Gann, Bertha played an important part as church opganist and role model in most of his churches, as well as a piano teacher in each community. She was a busy minister's wife, looking out for the parishioners, and she also cared for her parents and her grandmother in their declining years. She also introduced music to her son Maurice and her daughter, Doris. Bertha Mae was very small, about five feet tall, and she became only a wee bit plump as she aged. Her heavy dark brown hair had auburn highlights. She was very witty and bright, with a natural "take charge" personality. She would often entertain and feed church visitors, as well as relatives and down-and-outers, and her kitchen was a place to find fragrant and tasty treats. Bertha Mae assumed an important subordinate role in all church affairs. She never learned to drive a car.

Obituary from the News Palladium, Benton Harbor, Michigan (probably August 30, 1974): Mrs Bertha Mae Gann, 91, of 108 Cross Street, Benton Harbor, died at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in St. Joseph Memorial Hospital, where she had been a patient one week. Mrs. Gann had been ill two years. Surviving are a daughter, Mrs. Lawrence (Doris) Badgley, Benton Harbor, a son, Maurice Gann, of Schaller, Iowa, and a brother, J. Newell Knight of Lake Worth, Fla. Her husband, Rev. B. A. Gann, preceded her in death in December, 1967. Mrs. Gann was a member of the Riverview Park Christian Church. Funeral services will be held at 10 a.m. Saturday in the Fairplain Chapel, Florin Funeral Home, where friends may call after 7 this evening. Burial will be in Millburg Cemetery. Rev. Charles R. Allen officiated at the funeral services.