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Note: Beaver Falls was originally known as Brighton and was organized as a borough in 1868 Falls is in Beaver County and it was established in 1800.
PA received statehood in 1787, the second state to ratify the Constitution.
Beaver County was formed from Allegheny and Washington counties.
Early settlers were the English and Scots Irish. Germans arrived shortly afterwards, then the Irish.
An opportunity to work attracted the early settlers. Beaver Falls is near the confluence of several rivers and was one of the main routes from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River. With the waterways and falls, this area became an industrial hub for the water power and the routes to move manufactured goods. Some of the industries represented were chemical plants, glass works, saw mills flour mills, pottery mills. My ancestor's father came to the area to work in a chemical plant settlers were Protestant, mainly Presbyterian and Episcopal, and Methodist. Later settlers were Roman Catholic. In the early days, many of the blocks had a different church on each corner. And the religious sects, particularly the Catholic, had different Churches based on nationality. In the 20�sup�th�/sup� century, there were Hungarian Catholic churches, Polish Catholic, German Catholic churches. Wars 1 and 2, Korean War, Vietnam and the first Gulf War took place during Eugene M. Gahles' lifetime.
Gene was born at home, as were all his siblings,in Beaver Falls, Beaver, PA, USA on April 25, 1902. He was the youngest of 10, 9 of whom survived to adulthood.
He attended Saint Mary's R.C. grade School and Beaver Falls High School. In high school, he lettered in football and baseball. His love of sports was life long.
He attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Dental Medicine and graduated in 1924. He was the first person in his family to attend and graduate from college. He stated that he joined a fraternity in college, so that he wouldn't be hungry. He described receiving socks and underwear for Christmas and how appreciative he was for those gifts. During this time, he played semipro baseball and looked destined to a career in major league baseball. He was spotted by a scout who provided Gene with a train ticket to Boston to show Babe Ruth his stuff. Gene thought long and hard and finally chose not to go. He had already had several broken fingers as a catcher and thought that he would jeopardize his dental career by continuing to play ball. He lived at home until 1930, when his mother died and his father and sister and brother moved to Florida. He lived at 1316 10th Avenue in Beaver Falls with his parents and brother after graduation from Pitt in 1924. He married Dorothy Troeter on 26 November 1930. They had an early morning wedding in the rectory as it would have been unseemly for them to have had a larger wedding so soon after Gene's mother had died.
Gene and Dorothy had met when he was performing dental surgery at Providence Hospital where he was on staff. Dorothy, a registered nurse, was his scrub nurse.
They began married life together and he opened a dental practice during the depression. After their marriage, Dorothy lived with her family and Gene with his as they couldn't afford housing. Gene would walk up the main street in Beaver Falls, from his office on 14th Street in Beaver Falls to 31th Street where Dorothy's family lived, receiving food items from patients who had no money to pay their dental bills. Gene spoke of how much those loaves of bread or pies or a chicken meant to him. During his long dental career of over 50 years, he never sent any bills to a collection agency. His philosophy was that patients would pay when they could. An anecdote connected with this philosophy concerned one of Gene's patients, Joe Namath, who you may know as Broadway Joe. Joe's parents were divorced, and Joey's Mom would tell Gene that Joey's father was supposed to pay the bill. Of course, Joey's Dad would tell Gene that that was the Mother's responsibility. At any rate, when Joe signed his $427,000 with the Mets, Gene sent him a bill for $54.75 for dental services over the years. Within days a special delivery letter arrived from Joe's agent with a check enclosed.
Gene was a dentist for over 50 years when he retired.
Gene's social security number was issued in Pennsylvania between 1956 and 1958. Having gone through the depression, Gene was very grateful that even though he had only worked under social security for a short while that he was able to receive benefits.
Gene died on 3 Feb 1994 at age 91, only 7 months after his wife Dorothy died. He is buried beside her in Saint Mary's Cemetary in Beaver Falls, PA
�b�1910 CENSUS�/b�: Online Ancestry.com census for 4th Ward, Beaver Falls, Beaver County, PA searched line by line with negative results.
�b�1920 Census�/b�: PA, Beaver Co., Beaver Falls Borough 4�sup�th�/sup� Ward; Roll: T625_1531; Page 6B; ED 19; SD: 22; 6 Jan 1920; 1316 10�sup�th�/sup� Ave; 138/132:
Gahles, George, Head, owned, free of mortgage, Male, White, 62, Immigrated to the U.S. 1860, Naturalized 1873, Did not attend school, Able to read and write, Born in Bavaria Germany, Mother tongue German, Father born in Bavaria Germany, Mother tongue German, Mother born in Bavaria Germany, Mother tongue German, Able to speak English, foreman, unable to read industry, W;
Gahles, Elizabeth, Wife, Female, White, 59, Able to read and write, Born in Ohio, Father born in Ohio, Mother born in Ireland, native tongue English, Able to speak English, No occupation;
Gahles, Irene, Daughter, Female, White, 35, Able to read and write, Born in Pennsylvania, Father born in Bavaria Germany, mother tongue German, Mother born in Ohio, Able to speak English, unable to read occupation, Industry General, W;
Gahles, Edward, Son, Male, White, 24, Single, Able to read and write, Born in Pennsylvania, Father born in Bavaria Germany, mother tongue German, Mother born in Ohio, Able to speak English, Bolter, Chemical Works, W;
Gahles, Thomas, Son, Male, White, 21, Single, Able to read and write, Born in Pennsylvania, Father born in Bavaria Germany, mother tongue German, Mother born in Ohio, Able to speak English, Bookkeeper, Electric Company, W;
Gahles, Loretta, Daughter, Female, White, 20, Single, Attended school since Sept 1, 1919, Able to read and write, Born in Pennsylvania, Father born in Bavaria Germany, mother tongue German, Mother born in Ohio, Able to speak English, Stenographer, Bridge Co., W;
�b�Gahles, Eugene�/b�, Daughter [Son], Female [Male], White, 18, Single, Attended school since Sept 1, 1919, Able to read and write, Born in Pennsylvania, Father born in Bavaria Germany, mother tongue German, Mother born in Ohio, Able to speak English, not working.
�b�1930 CENSUS�/b� PA, Beaver Co., City of Beaver Falls 4�sup�th�/sup� Ward; Roll: 1996; ED 4-22; Sheet 8A; Image: 194;. 9-10 April 1930; 1316 10�sup�th�/sup� Ave; 189/197:
Gahles, George W., head, owns house valued at $4500, has radio, Male, White, 73 years old, Married for first time, age at marriage 22, not attending school, able to read and write, Born in Germany, Father born in Germany, Mother born in Germany, spoke German at home before coming to the U.S., immigrated to the U.S. in 1856, Naturalized citizen, occupation foreman in a chemical plant, not a veteran;
Elizabeth J., Wife, Female, White, 67 years of age, Married for first time, age at marriage 18, not attending school, able to read and write born in OH, Father born in NY, Mother born in Ireland, no occupation;
Edward, Son, Male, White, 38, Single, not in school, able to read and write, born in PA, Father born in Germany, Mother born in OH, occupation laborer in a chemical plant, not a veteran;
�b�Eugene,�/b� Son, Male, White, 24, Single, not in school, able to read and write, born in PA, Father born in Germany, Mother born in OH, occupation dentist, not a veteran.
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