October is Family History Month, so let's look at some prominent families in the Romeo area. Today is the Gass clan!
The Gasses were a big family not only in Romeo, but also in Washington and Ray Township. This photo was taken on August 31, 1910 for a Gass reunion at the home of Fred Davis in Washington. According to The Romeo Observer Centennial Supplement, 46 second cousins of the 14 first cousins of John and Rebecca (nee McGregor) Gass were present in this picture.
Now, I'm not going to list all the names because the newspaper already did that. All of them are identified with the help of Ford Shingleton, who furnished the photograph; Dora M. (nee Gass) McInnis; and Robert H. Gass.
However, I will bring up one, and that is John W. Gass, who is seated in the front row fifth from the right. He was a mason who supervisied the construction of the first cement sidewalks in Romeo. If you look closely, you can see his initials in said sidewalks. In addition, he built two houses - one on Tillson Street and the other on South Main Street.
Going back to the Gass family as a whole, they were so big that they have a ginormous family tree that can be seen at the Washington Historical Museum.
To discover more about the Gass family, you contact the Romeo Community Archives at rca@romemodistrictlibrary.org to see the Judy Gass-Lopus Collection and/or check out the Washington Historical Museum. The latter is open 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the Month from June through November.
Source: The Romeo Observer Centennial Supplement, September 1, 1966, p.1