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Biographies for all names have not been completed yet.
ANDREW FAILOR
Pg 946
Andrew Failor, owner of 100 acres
of fine farming land in North Beaver
Township, which is situated on the New
Castle-Petersburg Road, about ten miles
southwest of New Castle, was born on a
farm situated about one-fourth of a mile
from his present one. The old farm is now
the property of William Ehle. Mr. Failor
was born November 9, 1853, and is a son
of Jacob and Rosina (Griener) Failor.
Jacob Failor was about eight years old
when he accompanied his father, Michael
Failor, from Germany to America. The
family settled near Unity, in Columbiana
County, Ohio, and there Jacob was reared
to manhood. He subsequently married the
widow of John Ehle. She was born in Germany,
and her people had also first settled
in Ohio. Both parents died on the farm
now owned by Andrew Failor.
Mr. Failor has spent his life in North
Beaver Township. He married Anna Margaret
Best, who is a daughter of Conrad
and Margaret (Rosenberg) Best.
Mrs. Failor was born and reared in Beaver
County, Pennsylvania, where her parents
died. Mr. and Mrs. Failor have two children—Lilly May,
who is the wife of Lyman
Johnston, of Hilltowu, and Harry Monroe,
who manages the entire work of the farm.
It is very unusual to find a youth of but
sixteen so successful and interested a
farmer, but the truth is, the young man has
had to shoulder all the responsibility of
carrying on the place since he was thirteen
years old, at which time his father was
prostrated with a stroke of paralysis. Mr.
Failor may well be congratulated that his
son not only has the sturdy strength for
his hard work, but also that he has the
good judgment and the good will that make
his undertaking successful. He is very
highly esteemed through the neighborhood.
When married Mr. and Mrs. Failor went
to housekeeping in a log cabin, which is
still standing, and which is probably the
oldest of these picturesque dwellings in
Lawrence County. The family lived in
comfort in the old house for twenty-one
years, but in 1902 built the present commodious
frame one. Mr. and Mrs. Failor
are valued members of the Petersburg-
Lutheran Church, in which he served as a
member of the board of trustees until his
affliction came upon him.
THOMAS W. FALLS,
Pg 973
Thomas W. Falls, oil producer, operating
extensively in the Butler County
fields, occupies an office at No. 51/2 East
Washington Street, New Castle, where a
large part of his business is transacted.
Mr. Falls belongs to an old Lawrence
County family, and was born at New Castle,
in 1855.
Wilson Palls, the father of Thomas W.,
was born on the present site of New Castle,
in 1819, and was a son of Thomas
Falls, who came to this section of Pennsylvania
when it was in a wild condition. Wilson
Falls was a tanner, and followed this
trade during the whole of his active life.
He died at New Castle in 1880.
Thomas W. Falls was educated in the
New Castle schools. Prior to becoming interested
in the oil fields, in 1906, he was
connected with the window glass manufacturing
industry, and later was engaged in
the life insurance business. In 1880 Mr.
Falls was married to Ada F. Stewart, who
is a daughter of William J. Stewart, of
Chicago, Ill. They have two children. Wilson
S., and Sue, the former of whom is associated
with his father in the oil business.
The daughter. Sue, is the wife of Ralph
M. Lowry, of New Castle. Mr. and Mrs.
Falls are members of Trinity Episcopal
Church, of which he has been a vestryman
for a number of years. He is a Mason and
belongs to many of the higher branches of
the fraternity.
WALLACE H. FALLS
Pg 159
Wallace H. Falls, of New Castle, was
born in Lawrence County, and received a
preliminary education in the schools of this
city. He attended Lafayette College, after
which he took up the study of law under
Hon. John McMichael. He was admitted
to the bar on August 4, 1879.
FRANCIS FELTON
Pg 933
Francis Felton, who fills the important
position of foreman in the hot mill
department in the New Castle plant of the
American Tin Plate Company, has been a
resident of this city since July 15, 1868. He
was born in Worcestershire, England.
At the age of ten years Mr. Felton entered
the rolling mill and he has been identified
with mill work almost continuously
ever since. When he came to America he
was an experienced worker and in the old
New Castle iron mill he climbed from the
lowest position to that of foreman for G.
W. Johnson, and for two or three years
was superintendent of the Johnson mill.
Mr. Felton then came to the present plant
as foreman of the hot mill department, his
years of practical experience particularly
fitting him for a place of responsibility.
In 1867 Mr. Felton was married to Miss
Annie Bratt and they have had seven children,
the four survivors being: Annie, who
is the wife of John Sargent, a roller in the
Shenango mill; Salena, who is the wife of
Joseph McConnell, a salesman for Kraus
Brothers, of Wheeling, W. Va.; Francis
Joseph, who is chief chemist for the Pennsylvania
Malleable Company, of McKeesport,
Pa., and John M., who is rector of
the Episcopal Church of Silver Creek, Neb.
For many years Mr. Felton has been a
vestryman of Trinity Episcopal Church.
Mrs. Felton is very active in the work of
the Fifth Ward Methodist Episcopal
Church. In politics Mr. Felton takes only
a good citizen's interest, while his only fraternal
connection is membership in the
beneficiary order of the Protected Home
Circle.
C. W. FENTON
Pg 696
C. W. Fenton, attorney-at-law, at New
Castle, is a member of the Lawrence
County Bar Association, and has the right
of practice in the Supreme and Superior
Courts of Pennsvlvania, and the District
and Circuit Courts of the United States.
He was born in Lawrence County. Pennsylvania,
in 1870, and is a son of Homer Fenton.
Homer Fenton was born in Lawrence
County, in 1846, and is a son of Abner
Fenton, who came to this section probably
in 1835. Homer Fenton has been identified
with the lumber trade for many years.
C. W. Fenton was educated in the New
Castle schools, the Slippery Rock State
Normal School and Hiram College, graduating
from the latter in 1892. Mr. Fenton
then engaged in teaching for six years, in
the meanwhile giving much time to the
study of law, and in 1898 he was graduated
from the law department of the Ohio
Northern University, at Ada, Ohio. About
this time he enlisted for service in the
Spanish-American War, entering Company
E, Fifteenth Regiment, Pennsylvania
Volimteer Infantry, of which he was
corporal, and served for one year. Immediately
after his return home he was
admitted to the bar, and associated himself
in practice with Charles H. Young,
the present district attorney. Mr. Fenton
has advanced rapidly in his profession,
and has taken part in a large part
of the important litigation which has occupied
the different courts in the last decade.
He has given considerable attention
to politics also, and is a well rounded
American citizen.
In 1900 Mr. Fenton was married to Miss
Anna R. Fife, of Allegheny City, Pa. They
are members of the First Christian
Church, of New Castle, of which Mr. Fenton
has been a trustee for some years. He
belongs to the Odd Fellows and to the
Temple club.
REV. ROBERT G. FERGUSON, L.L.D.
Pg
REV. Robert G. Ferguson, L.L.D.,
who has been identiiied with Westminster
College, at New Wilmington, for many
years, serving as its honored president for
a period of twenty-two consecutive years,
now fills the chair of English Bible, in
this noted institution. He was born at
Dry Run, Franklin County, Pennsylvania,
February 16, 1842, and is a son of Hon.
James and Mary Ann (Doyle) Ferguson.
Dr. Ferguson is of Scotch-Irish ancestry,
both the Fergusons and the Doyles coming
to Franklin County direct from Ireland,
in the days of the grandfathers. His
father, Hon. James Ferguson, was a son
of David and Margaret (McKibben) Ferguson.
He was a man of unusual prominence
in Franklin County and served for
four years on the bench, as associate judge.
He died June 22, 1895, aged eighty-six
years. Of his five sons and two daughters,
Robert G. was the eldest.
During boyhood, Dr. Ferguson enjoyed
academic advantages, first at Chambersburg
and later in Tuscarora Academy,
in Juniata County, going from
there to Jefferson College, where he
was graduated with honors. During the
Civil War he served seven months in the
Signal Corps, under General Couch, having
enlisted at Harrisburg, as second lieutenant
in the Twenty-second Regiment, Pennsylvania
Volunteer Cavalry.
After completing his theological course
at the Allegheny Theological Seminary,
Dr. Ferguson served the united charge of
Mercersburg and Cove, and in 1874 assumed
the duties of pastor of the First
United Presbyterian Church at Butler,
where he continued for ten years. His
election as president of Westminster College
followed in the fall of 1884, when he
came to New Wilmington and entered upon
his successful career as the head of one of
the leading educational centers of his religious
body. Through the many years that
followed, his directing force increased the
efficiency of this school and added to its
reputation and high standing. The weight
of years and increased responsibilities
caused Dr. Ferguson first to consider and
later to put into effect his resignation of
the office of president. His present duties
as professor of the English Bible are thoroughly
congenial and his name still adds
value to Westminster College.
On January 28, 1868, Dr. Ferguson was
married to Emma M. Huber, who is a
daughter of Dr. H. S. and Priscilla J.
(McCurdy) Huber, the former of whom
was a very prominent physician at Gettysburg,
Pa. Dr. and Mrs. Ferguson have
five children, namely: Mary Emma, who
is a teacher of music; Huber, who married
Caroline Kraer, has five children—Kraer,
Helen, Jane, Robert G., Jr., and Paul;
James Markle, who married Floy Robertson,
has two children—Louise and Robert
Doyle; and Wallace Radcliffe and Helen.
DANIEL W. FERREE
Pg 584
Daniel W. Ferree, who owns a fine
farm of 114 acres of land lying about nine
miles southeast of New Castle, is a well
known citizen and a prosperous farmer of
Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence
County, Pennsylvania. He was born about
fifty rods from his present home on December
31, 1869, and is a son of James and
Sarah (Lutz) Ferree, and a grandson of
Jacob Ferree.
Jacob Ferree, the grandfather, was born
in Mercer County, Pennsylvania, and there
resided until 1840, when he sold out and
moved to what became the Ferree homestead
in Slippery Rock Township, Lawrence
County. There he continued his
farming operations until his death.
James Ferree was born in Mercer
County and was about thirteen years of
age when his parents moved to Slippery
Rock. He received his educational training
in the district schools of Mercer and
Lawrence Counties, and throughout his entire
life engaged in farming. During the
last fourteen years of his life he raised
berries quite extensively, a business which
proved very remunerative. He was united
in marriage with Sarah Lutz, a daughter
of Jonathan Lutz, who was a farmer of
this county. The following children were
the offspring of this union: Jacob, Daniel
W., and Anna.
Daniel W. Ferree attended the public
schools of his home district and engaged
in farming on the home place until 1896,
in which year he purchased his present
farm from the Alexander heirs. He has
met with unusual success as a general
farmer and truck gardener, and is classed
with the substantial and progressive men
of the township.
Mr. Ferree was united in the bonds of
matrimony with Eva J. Eeno, a daughter
of Lafayette Reno, of Shenango Township,
Lawrence County, and they became parents
of six children, namely: Carl Herbert,
Bertha Gertrude, Earl Raymond, Gladys
Elnora, Ralph Emerson, and Lawrence
Ernest. Politically, he is an active Republican,
but has never aspired to nor
cared for public office. Religiously, he is
a member of the Lutheran Church.
GEORGE W. FISHER
Pg 701
George W. Fisher, one of Ellwood
City's progressive business men, is assistant
superintendent over a large territory
for the Prudential Life Insurance
Company and has his offices in the Dambach
Building, and owns a home at No.
716 Park Avenue. Mr. Fisher was born
at Portersville, Butler County, Pa., December
S, 1871, and is a son of William and
Agnes (Thomas) Fisher.
William Fisher was born, reared to manhood
and educated in Beaver County,
Pennsylvania, moving to Butler County
after his marriage, where he engaged in
work at his trade of wagonmaking. There
he died when his son, George W., was
twenty-two months old. Two sons survived
him. George W. and William S., the
latter of whom is a farmer in Franklin
Township, Beaver County. The mother
died in 1900.
George W. Fisher went to Washington.
Pa., after completing school, where he
had been offered the management of
a grocery store, and remained at Washington
for one year and six months and
then came to Ellwood City, securing employment
in a grocery house, where he
continued for five years. For five more
years he had charge of the shipping and
packing department in the Clark Bros.
Glass factory. In 1904 he first became associated
with the Prudential Life Insurance
Company, and after a successful term
of fifteen months as an agent, in June,
1905, was promoted to be assistant superintendent
over a district which embraces
the territory from West Pittsburg east to
Evans City, Butler County, and from Hazel
Dell south to Homewood. There are three
agents under Mr. Fisher's supervision.
Mr. Fisher has had wonderful success ever
since he turned his attention in the direction
of his present occupation, and stands
very high with the home office on account
of his efficience.
In June, 1900, Mr. Fisher was married to
Miss Louise I. Wilson, ofWayne Township,
who is a daughter of John P. Wilson, and
they have a most engaging little daughter,
Lucille Winifred by name, who was born
March 23, 1908. llr. and Mrs. Fisher attend
the Presbyterian Church. In politics,
he is a Republican. Personally, Mr. Fisher
possesses a frank, genial manner that
assists him in making friends, and he has
the sterling qualities which enable him to
keep them.
JACOB FISHER
Pg 928
Jacob Fisher, one of the old and
resijected residents of Slippery Rock
Township is a worthy representative of a
fine old pioneer family of this section. He
resides on his valuable farm of 180 acres,
which is favorably located within onequarter
of a mile of the pleasant village of
Rose Point. Mr. Fisher was born on this
farm, April 24, 1831, and is a son of Henry
and Isaliella (Vance) Fisher.
George Fisher, the grandfather, was of
German parentage. He came from east of
the Allegheny Mountains and sought a
home in what was then a great stretch of
forest land in Lawrence County, but is now
some of the best farming soil and best
improved property in Slippery Rock Township.
The remainder of the life of Grandfather
Fisher was spent in clearing and
cultivating this land. He reared a family
of ten children.
Henry Fisher, father of Jacob Fisher,
was born before the family came to Lawrence
County, he being about three years
of age at the time. He obtained his education
in the subscription schools and grew
to manhood on his father's farm. He
learned the blacksmith trade and operated
a shop on his farm for a number of years.
He married Isabella Vance, who was a
daughter of James Vance, a farmer and
early settler of Slippery Rock Township.
Henry Fisher and wife had the following
children : Jacob, the eldest and only survivor;
and Margaret, Emily, Jemima,
Marion, Sarah Ann and two infants that
died at birth. Both parents died on the
present farm. They had lived kind and
useful lives and were remembered longafter
they had been laid to rest.
Jacob Fisher obtained his education in
the district schools. Being the only son
and the oldest child, he early became accustomed
to the necessary details of farming
and as soon as he was old enough took
charge and relieved his father. Mr. Fisher
continued to be actively engaged in general
farming until his sons were old enough
in turn to relieve him and since then he
has been practically retired.