Maltby Gaylord Gelston (1847-1917)

From Taylor's Legislative History and Souvenir of Connecticut, 1903.

   Connecticut state representative Maltby Gaylord Gelston represented his hometown of Sherman in his state's legislature for one term in the early 1900s and had earlier served in several local offices, including stints as town assessor and school board member. A lifelong resident of Sherman, Gelston was born on February 9, 1847, the youngest of four children born to Hugh and Cornelia Gaylord Gelston. A grandson of the Rev. Maltby Gelston (1766-1856), a pastor of the Congregational Church at Sherman for nearly sixty years, Maltby G. Gelston attended the public schools of Sherman, New Milford, and the Naples Academy. 

   Gelston married on his 28th birthday in 1875 to Sophia Giddings (1849-1936), with whom he had one daughter, Cornelia (1879-1940). A farmer and active churchgoer in Sherman, Gelston was a past treasurer, trustee, deacon, and clerk of the local Congregational Church, as well as its Sunday school superintendent. A holder of several political offices in Sherman, Gelston served at various times as a town assessor, relief board member, and school board member.

  Elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives in 1902, Gelston served in the session of 1903-04 and was a member of the committee on education. Following his term, Gelston served once again as a member of the Sherman Board of Assessors (1907-08) and as a school committee member (being elected in 1916). Gelston died in Sherman on June 2, 1917, at age 70. He was survived by his wife and daughter and was interred at the North Cemetery in Sherman.