William
Delbert Gann was born June 6, 1878, in Lufkin, Texas, to Sam H. and Susan R. Gann, immigrants to Texas from the British Isles. Lufkin is midway between Houston and Texarkana.
This part of Texas is cotton country and
Gann's parents lived on a Neches River bottom cotton ranch near Lufkin. He grew up around the cotton
warehouses in Angelina County where cotton was
king. W. D. Gann was raised in a very strict Methodist church family. His
mother, a very religious person, encouraged him to read the Bible at a very
early age, and in fact, wanted him to become a minister. Gann was not sure he
wanted to become a minister, but studying the Bible was certainly easier than
working in the cotton fields, as was his father's wish. He attended church
every Sunday with his parents and as he listened to
the sermons found his
interpretation of the Bible scriptures to differ from the minister's. In the
Bible he discovered time cycles, repetition of important numbers, and
references to the wise men following the stars. Also, that it was written in
veiled language that made interpreting the real meaning difficult. Since Gann
had a photographic memory, by age 21 he had nearly memorized the Bible.
During his school years Gann excelled in mathematics and was generally called as a
gifted mathematician. His tremendous appetite for knowledge and his open-minded
attitude led him into many different fields of study that eventually resulted
in discoveries in the markets that would otherwise have been overlooked. He
completed high school in a time when most children were only able to attend
school through the third or fourth grade. As a teenager, Gann liked to be called
W. D., and he used these initials the rest of his life. W. D. pestered his
parents until they relented and signed a minor release form that he needed to
obtain a job. His first job was that of a News Butcher on the passenger train
between Texarkana and Tyler, Texas.
This job required him to be quick-witted, aggressive, and able to deal with all kinds of people. During his teen years, he worked in the cotton warehouses in Lufkin and Texarkana, Texas. While working in the cotton warehouse, he was introduced to commodity trading.
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