From Centennial History, First Presbyterian Church, Westfield, NY, 1808-1908, pub. April 1910, p. 31.

The next communion was held April 8th, [1855], Rev. Anson Gleason of the Cattaraugus Mission officiating. "Father Gleason," was the familiar and affectionate term by which he was best known.

The preparatory lecture was of great interest; and at the communion service it was evident that marked awakening was upon the church. Father Gleason was invited to remain with the church, which he did. He began holding daily meetings, and was assisted by Rev. Samuel Orton who had been frequently invited on special occasions. Rev. Mr. Skinner was also active in this work.

Father Gleason led everything. There were meetings in the various neighborhoods. At the joint district on the Mayville Road, where Deacon Stone had long held a Sunday School; at Deaconville, the circle of homes comprising Deacons Montgomery, Fay and Hall; at private houses in other portions of the town, until the field was well taken in hand. Father Gleason continually said: "Brother Tinker sowed the seed; I am simply getting in the harvest." His kindly, forceful ways, his grand personality, his persuasive voice, and that soul-stirring hymn which was his favorite, "Come, Thou Font of Every Blessing," which he sang with the greatest zest, carried everything before him. The very air was full of the gospel message.

From the genealogy: Descendants of Thomas Gleason, by Barber White, 1909.

Anson Gleason was born in Manchester, CT May 2, 1797 and died in Brooklyn, NY February 24, 1885. He was married in Manchester, CT on October 26, 1826, to Bethia W., daughter of Eleazar Tracy. She was born June 20, 1803 in Manchester, CT, and died in Brooklyn, NY on October 13, 1886. They had eight children.

In January 1823, Gleason left for the Southwest, to be a missionary to the Choctaw indians. He returned to Connecticut in 1826 to marry his wife, then returned to the Southwest, where his first two children were born. Upon returning to Connecticut in 1830, he became a missionary to the Mohegans in Connecticut. In 1835 he was ordained as a Congregational minister, and worked with the Mohegans for a total of 16 years. From 1858-1861 he worked on the Six Nations Cattaraugus Reservation, and then did city mission work in Rochester, Utica, and Brooklyn. He and his wife were buried in old Yantic Cemetery in Norwich, CT. He was known to all as "Father Gleason."

(Gleason's ancestry: Thomas¹, William², John³, John⁴, Obadiah⁵, Moses⁶)

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