“Jean Gaston emigrated from France to Scotland on account of his religion, as a persecution then raged against the Protestants.  He had two sons who emigrated from Scotland to Ireland between 1662 and 1668 during a time of persecution in Scotland.  There was a John and a William, but which of them was the ancestor of our grandfather is not known.  William Gaston, my grandfather, lived at Caranleigh Clough Water.  He married Miss Lemmon and had four sons and as many daughters:  John Gaston (King’s Justice) died on Fishing Creek, near Cedar Shoal, Chester District, South Carolina; Rev. Hugh Gaston, author of ‘Concordance and Collections’; Dr. Alexander Gaston, killed by the British at Newbern, South Carolina (father of Judge William Gaston); Robert Gaston, and William Gaston.”

     One fact is established, that many of Jean Gaston’s descendants had
     settled in America before the Revolution and were actively engaged
     in that contest for liberty.

Springing from such ancestry in which are joined the characteristics of the French Huguenot, the Scotch Presbyterian, the Scotch-Irish patriot, the follower of Roger Williams, the May Flower Pilgrim, one is not surprised to find in William Gaston a strong man; a man who inherited as a birthright the qualities of leadership.

His father was a well known merchant of Connecticut, of sterling integrity, and of remarkably strong force of character.  He was commissioned a Captain at the early age of twenty-two, and was for many years in the Legislature.  The father of the latter was also in the Connecticut Legislature for many years.

In early youth William gave promise of a superb manhood by displaying those qualities which have since distinguished him.  He was a studious boy, eager for knowledge.  He attended the Academy in Brooklyn, Connecticut, and subsequently fitted for College at the Plainfield Academy.  At the age of fifteen he left his quiet village home for Brown University, where his intellect was trained in a routine sanctioned by the experience of centuries, and where contact with his fellows soon roused his ambition and gave him confidence in his own ability to enter the struggle with the world for place and honor.  William, having a married sister, who was many years his senior, residing in Providence, his father decided to send him, then scarcely more than a lad, to Brown University where he would be surrounded by family influences and enjoy the social advantages offered by his sister’s home.  He maintained a high rank, graduating with honors in 1840.

For his life work he decided upon the legal profession—­a wise choice as subsequent time has shown his peculiar fitness therefor.  He first entered the office of Judge Francis Hilliard of Roxbury, remaining for a time and then continued his legal studies with the distinguished lawyers and jurists Charles P. and Benjamin R. Curtis of Boston, with whom he remained until his admission to the Bar in 1844.