Portrait and biographical record of Christian County, Illinois : containing biographical sketches of prominent and   representative citizens, together with biographies of all the Governors of the state, and of the Presidents of the United States.  Chicago, Ill. : Lake City Pub. Co., 1893.  Transcribed and annotated by Judy Rosella Edwards, 2007.

L. S. GARDNER, Supervisor of the Poor Farm, and a prominent and influential citizen of Christian County, resides on section 3, Rosamond Township. He was born in Fayette County, Ill., February 5, 1852, and is a son of Nathan Gardner, who was born in Knox County, Ohio, August, 10, 1817, and was reared in middle Tennessee.   The grandfather, Britton Gardner, was a native of Germany, and when a small boy came with his parents to America. He served in the Revolutionary War. The mother of our subject bore the maiden name of Frances T. Harrison, and was born March 2, 1818, near Richmond, Va. When a maiden of sixteen, she went to middle Tennessee, and on the 1st of June, 1831, became the wife of Mr. Gardner. In 1840 they emigrated to Fayette County, Ill., and in 1856 came to Christian County. Here the father died in 1893, but the mother is still living, and throughout the county is known as "Aunt Fannie."   The Gardner family numbered eleven children, seven sons and four daughters, of whom seven grew to mature years. Our subject is the sixth in order of birth. He was a lad of four summers when he came with his parents to this county, and the first school he attended was taught by the present County Superintendent of Schools, Prof. R. W. Orr. After attending the district schools, he became a student in the High School of Taylorville. At the age of nineteen he began teaching, and in 1862 he attended the State Normal School [ed., Illinois State University], of Normal, Ill., to fit himself for becoming a professor, but on account of ill health he was forced to abandon this plan. He then turned his attention to the carpenter's trade, which he followed for some time.   Mr. Gardner was married in this State on the 31st of January, 1883, to Miss Hettie Little, daughter of James and Eliza (Seaton) Little, and a native of Fayette County. Her father was a native of Tennessee, and was of Scotch-Irish descent. He became one of the early settlers of Fayette County, and there took up land from the Government. Mrs. Gardner is the fifth in order of birth in a family of seven children. Her mother died when she was eight years of age, after which her father married Frances Beck, and they became the parents of five children, four sons and a daughter.   Mr. and Mrs. Gardner began their domestic life upon a farm. Subsequently they removed to Taylorville Township, where they spent six years, and in 1890 our subject assumed the management of the Poor Farm, of which he still has charge. Their home has been blessed with a little daughter, Emma Ethel, who was born on the 3d of September, 1885.   In his political affiliations, Mr. Gardner is a Democrat. Socially, he is a member of the Masonic fraternity of Edinburgh, and also of the Anti-Horse Thief Association. He likewise holds membership with the Baptist Church. He is giving excellent satisfaction as manager of the Poor Farm, for he is a man of sterling worth, true to every trust reposed in him. A well-spent life has won for him universal confidence and esteem, and gained for him the high regard of all.

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