Gable Reunion: Frequently Asked Questions About Our History and the Site

Below are questions you may have about using this site or about the Gable Family in general. Click on the question for which you wish to see the answer, or scroll down to the answers below. If you cannot find your question here, please contact us and write your question in the text area of the contact form. If possible, we will respond to your question within 48 hours.

How do I find things on this site?
What do you mean when you say "click"?
What do the different colors in the text mean?
Why do the links change color when I've clicked on them?
When I try to get pictures off this site, I get a message saying I can't. What do I do?
What does this symbol

in the upper right corner of most pages mean?
Why do you have an "[a]" in Elizabeth Pe[a]rson's name throughout the website?
There is information on this website that is wrong. How do I contact you?
I do not want my relative's information on this site. What do I do?
I have a question this site doesn't answer. How can I ask you?
Are we related to Clark Gable, the famous movie star?
Why does the family tree say Solomon and Elizabeth's second son was named "Willoughby," but his tombstone says "William"?
When did the Gable name switch from "Gabel" to its present-day from (Gable)?

How do I find things on this site?
On the homepage of this site, you will find a box on the left side which lists all the topics this site covers:

What do you mean when you say "click"?
To "click" means to put the mouse over the highlighted text or image and to press down the left button of your mouse briefly. The mouse will make a small "clicking" sound, and the screen will switch to the place the highlighted text or image referenced.

What do the different colors in the text mean?
These different colors are called "links." In this website, the link for a place you can go to is this color. If you visit that page, the link switches to this color. Depending on your own computer's settings, the color of the font may switch back to the first color once you leave the website.

Why do the links change color when I've clicked on them?
This is just a reminder to you that you have been to that page before. Speaking from experience, I just plum forget sometimes where I've been.

When I try to get pictures off this site, I get a message saying I can't. What do I do?
Please contact us to get copies of pictures off this website. This is to honor family members who have shared these images in good faith they will be used for historical purposes.

What does this symbol in the upper right corner of most pages mean?
This is another way to get back to the first page of this website. Click on it, and you will be at the home page.

Why do you have an "[a]" in Elizabeth Pe[a]rson's name throughout the website?
An article in an October 1983 issue of the Allentown Call-Chronicle speaks of Elizabeth and her brother Morgan having their last names spelled differently in their marriage records. Back then, accuracy of a person's name and the number in their households depended on the accuracy of the census taker. Many times, first names and surnames (last names) were misspelled by the census representative, and the mistake was how the government viewed them.

There is information on this website that is wrong. How do I contact you?
Click here and fill out the form, stating in the text area what the error is. We will contact you as soon as possible to clear this up. Please note: I welcome help with information!

I do not want my relative's information on this site. What do I do?
Click here and fill out the form, stating in the text area that you have this concern. You will receive a response within 48 hours. This website is not meant to offend.

I have a question this site doesn't answer. How can I ask you?
Click here and fill out the form. Ask your question in the text box. We try to answer questions within 48 hours.

Are we related to Clark Gable, the famous movie star?
Well, there is a rumor that one of Solomon's brothers had Clark Gable for a son. This would require some detective work. In any case, the DNA gets pretty thin for present-day Gable descendants to boast about this. (If you didn't like him as an actor, you might be happy about that.)

Why does the family tree say Solomon and Elizabeth's second son was named "Willoughby," but his tombstone says "William"?
This one is a question for Willoughby's grandson, William Schlicher. As far as it is known, Willoughby would have been named for HIS grandfather, Solomon's father. This means there would have been 2 Willoughbys in the same house, causing some confusion. William and Florence Schlicher remember him as "Pappy" Gable. It's possible that Willoughby (son) was known as "Will" for so long, that it was assumed that this was short for "William."

When did the Gable name switch from "Gabel" to its present-day form (Gable)?

It was a gradual change that still continues to this day. This is related to the question above regarding Elizabeth Pe[a]rson. These days, to think of someone educated to 8th grade conjures up images of lazy, impoverished, or even "hick" people. We need to be sensitive to the cultural implications of schooling back then. It was a source of pride to have graduated 8th grade--you had learned what needed to be known for whatever vocation you pursued. Those pursuing professions such as farming were every bit respected members of the community, because most of the smaller communities were made up of farmers!

Unfortunately, this viewpoint is exactly opposite in the 00's. There is a sense from those outside farming communities, or those who have never been on a farm, tending to see the profession as something to "fall back on" if you can't do anything else and you have the resources. If you ask most farmers why they farm, you will get many reasons, very often simply and eloquently stated. You probably will never hear, "Because I just couldn't do anything else."

Why is this discussion important? Because it tells a little of the viewpoint of accuracy in writing for those living in the late 19th century and early 20th century. It was not that people who wrote the name "Gabel" as "Gable" were unintelligent or didn't care, it was that it was not a focal point of life. They spelled it how it sounded, especially to their Pennsylvania Dutch-trained ears. In our highly technical, information-loving age (this is not to be construed as a negative), we cannot fathom a misspelled name as being okay. But it was to the cultures surrounding southern Lehigh County, PA around 1900. To be known as "William Gabel", when your mother named you "Willoughby Gable" was not an insult, nor even considered as one. You were known, that's what's important.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)