USA > Pennsylvania > Westmoreland County > Biographical and historical cyclopedia of Westmoreland county, Pennsylvania > Part 57
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William R. Dunlap was reared on a Washing- ton township farin and attended the common schools. Leaving school he went to Warren county, Pa., and was engaged for five years in shipping lumber to Pittsburg and Cincinnati. At the end of this time he returned to West- moreland county and began farming. 1n 1854 he bought a farm in Derry township, which he sold four years later and purchased a Salem township farm on which he resided for ten years. Ile then (1868) disposed of it and bought a farm in Derry township, on which he has lived ever since and to which he has added by additional purchases until it now contains four hundred acres of land. His farm is well improved and his tasteful residence is fitted up with all modern conveniences.
In the beginning of the year 1860 he united in marriage with Nancy J. Barr, who was a daughter of John Barr and died February 24,
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1883. On March 7, 1889, he married Mattie J. Kenley, daughter of David Kenley (see his sketch). Of his first marriage were born ten children : Rev. John B., born September 12, 1860, and with his wife, Mary E. (Stokes) Dun- lap, are Presbyterian missionaries to Siam; Mary E., born January 4, 1862, married to J. M. Gilson, March 10, 1885, and has two children ; Sarah N. and William R .; Robinson E., born December 19, 1863, married Lucinda B. Me- wherter and has two children ; Mabel G. and Elsie F .; Martha J., born March 7, 1866, be- came the wife of William Mewherter, on March 7, 1888, and has one child Roxie W. ; Charles H., born April 23, 1868, and was married to Lizzie Kirkpatrick, December 3, 1889; Clark, born March 11, 1870; Louisa II., born March 30, 1872; Emory E., born September 27, 1874, died August 14, 1877 ; Nora G., born March 25, 1877 ; and Hubert, born March 30, 1879.
W. R. Dunlap is a republican, while all his brothers are and his father and grandfather were democrats. He is a trustee of " Old Salem " Presbyterian church, an honorable citizen and a hospitable and generous man.
L. FAUSOLD, ex-county auditor of Westmoreland and a prominent citizen of Unity township, is a son of Hon. John and Ellen ( Freeman) Fausold and was born in Mount Pleasant township, West- moreland county, Pa., June 26, 1853. The Fansolds are of German extraction. Casper Fausold (grandfather) emigrated from Germany to Bedford county, Pa., from which he removed in 1818 to Mount Pleasant township. He kept a hotel on the old " Clay pike " and his farm is still known as the Fausold place. He was a shoemaker by trade and a Lutheran in religious belief. Ile married a Miss Shaffer of Berks county, Pa., by whom he had three children, one son and two daughters. This son was HIon.
John Fausold, who was born in Bedford county, Pa., December 23, 1808. He came with his parents to Mount Pleasant township and at twenty years of age became a member of the Donegal Evangelical church. He was a farmer by occupation but served in public life for fifty- five years. Ile was sequestrator of the Mount Pleasant and Somerset turnpike ; served cred- itably as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1846, 1847-1848, 1856, and 1857 and was appointed revenue commis- sioner in 1863 for the judicial district of West- moreland, Indiana and Armstrong counties. He served as a school director for twenty-one years and held the office of justice of the peace for the last thirty-one years of his life. As a public official he commanded alike the respect of his political friends and foes. In 1853 he married Ellen Freeman, who died in 1863. They had seven children, of whom two sons and two daughters are living. Hon. John Fausold died November 14, 1884, aged seventy-six years, and a vast concourse of people were gathered to witness the entombment of his remains in Ridge church cemetery. An impressive and able funeral discourse upon that sad occasion was delivered by Rev. A. D. Potts, A. M. Eloquent extracts from this sermon and a fuller history of Ilon. Johin Fausold, one of Westmoreland county's most prominent men, will be found in the sketch of H. F. Fausold, of Mount Pleasant township.
M. L. Fausold was reared on his father's farm in Mount Pleasant township. Ile received his education in the common schools and Mount Pleasant and Madison Normal schools. At sev- enteen years of age he commenced teaching, which profession he followed for eight years in his native township. When he quit teaching he engaged in his present business of farming and stock-raising. In 1889 he purchased his present farm in Unity township of thirty acres, and but a short distance from it bought an addi- tional tract of forty-four acres.
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Politically he is a democrat. In 1875, when only twenty-two years of age, he was elected county auditor and afterwards served four terms as tax collector of Mount Pleasant township. He is a member of the A. Y. M. and Evangel- ical Lutheran church, in which he was confirmed July 19, 1874, by Dr. S. L. Harkey. Ile has held the various local offices of this church, of which he is now a trustee.
October 5, 1876, he was married by Dr. Harkey to Ada O. Hays, youngest daughter of Samuel and Catherine Hays, of Mount Pleasant township. Mr. and Mrs. Fausold are the pa- rents of five children: Grace, Ada, John, Sam- uel and one other.
ARRY F. FAUSOLD, a successful farmer of Mount Pleasant township and a highly respected member of the Evangelical Lu- theran church, is a son of Hon. John and Ellen (Freeman) Fausold and was born on the home- stead farm in which he now resides, in Mount Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pa., May 17, 1860. Casper Fausold, the grand- father of Harry F. Fausold, was a native of Germany and immigrated to Bedford county, Pa., from which he soon removed (1818) to Mount Pleasant township, where he lived and kept a hotel on the farm now owned by Rev. Woods. Hle was a democrat and a lu- theran and married a Miss Shaffer of Berks county, this State, by whom he had one son and three daughters. This son was Hon. John Fau- sold, who was one of Westmoreland county's prominent men. He was born in Londonderry township, Bedford county, l'a., December 23, 1808, and died at his residence in Mount Pleas- ant township November 14, 1884, when in the seventy-sixth year of his age. Early in life he came to this county and at twenty years of age connected himself with the Evangelical Lutheran church at Donegal, then under charge of Father Mechling. He was a farmer by occupation but
passed fifty-five years of his time in public life. In 1844 he was made sequestrator of the Som- erset and Mount Pleasant pike. In 1846 he was elected to the State Legislature and served in that capacity for five terms. In 1855 he was nominated for one of those terms of service, when the Democratic party of Westmoreland county, in order to save itself from threatened destruction by Know-nothingism, selected Henry D. Foster, Harrison P. Laird and John Fausold as their nominees for the Legislature. Their choice proved a wise one, as all three of their candidates were elected that year and re-elected in 1856. Mr. Fausold's record as a legislator was without blot or stain, for he was an able, industrious, conscientious and highly useful member of the Legislature during his term of service. For twenty-one years he had served as school director in his district, where he was the first and only man in 1836 to vote for the adoption of the free school system, and for the last thirty-one years of his life had served as justice of the peace. IIis magisterial decisions when appealed from were always sustained by the courts. In 1863 he was appointed revenue commissioner for Westmoreland, Indiana and Armstrong counties and served efficiently as such. After a long and useful life he passed away in 1884. At his funeral over one thous- and persons came from all parts of the county to show respect and do honor to his memory. His remains were deposited in Ridge church cemetery. From the eloquent and impressive funeral discourse by Rev. A. D. Potts, A. M., we extract : " As a Christian, Father Fausold's walk and life were truly exemplary. As a man he was strictly honest. Neither was he a stranger to charity. At his door and hands his gifts were freely bestowed. Ilis wide experi- ence, his extended usefulness, his sage counsel, his white locks, made me revere him as a father in Israel. Ilis noble life and peaceful death should actuate us to imitate his example. Ilis time, his means, his influence and his heart were
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used for the extension of Zion and the glory of God." In 1853 Hon. John Fausold married Ellen Freeman, who died in 1863. They had seven children, of whom four are living : Mar- tin la. (see sketch in Unity township); Mary, wife of R. S. Welty (see his sketch) ; Martha, wife ot J. B. Fry, and Harry F. Mrs. Ellen Fausold was a daughter of Samuel Freeman. Ile was a farmer, a democrat and a member of the M. E. church. He married Elvira Shauntz and reared a family of two sons and ten daught- ers.
Harry F. Fausold owns the home farm of his father and has always been successfully engaged in farming and stock-raising. Politically he is a democrat and is serving his township as a school director. He and his wife are members of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran church, of which he is a deacon.
On October 26, 1882, he married Anna Overly, daughter of J. G. Overly. They are the parents of two children : Lucien Clyde, born September 1, 1883, and Charles Roye, born August 13, 1886.
.OIIN W. FETTER. Agriculture is the true basis of the prosperity of any county and if the farmers flourish so will the manu- facturer and the merchant. One of the sub- stantial farmers of Mt. Pleasant township is John W. Fetter, who is a son of John and Elizabeth (Whitmore) Fetter. He was born near Mt. Pleasant, in Mt. Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pa., March 13, 1835. John Fetter was born in Mt. Pleasant township where he died. He was a skillful mechanic and worked for many years at his trade. He was a republican in politics, a member of the Evan- gelical Lutheran church and married Elizabeth Whitmore by whom he had nine children, five sons and four daughters.
Mrs. Elizabeth Fetter, a daughter of a Mr. Whitmore who was a native of Fayette county,
this State, and was killed while serving as soldier in the American army in the war of 1812.
John W. Fetter was reared on a farm where he was carefully trained to farming. He re- ceived his education in the common schools and made choice of farming which he has followed successfully ever since. He was married to Lucinda Husband. They are the parents of five children : Dr. William, who graduated from the Pittsburg Medical college and is practicing at Scottdale, this county ; Charles B., married Lottie Summers and is engaged in farming in Unity township ; Carrie, wife of William Lowe; May and Lily. In politics Mr. Fetter has always acted with and been a supporter of the Republican party. He gives his attention mainly to his farm and business affairs and is known as an industrious and successful farmer.
ON. WILLIAM FINDLEY. One of the principal characters figuring in the Whiskey Insurrection of 1794, and thus brought into national prominence was William Findley. Without his biography the carly his- tory of Westmoreland County would be incom- plete, for he easily secured and successfully held a political ascendancy over the common masses of the people of southwestern Pennsyl- vania which was relaxed only with his death. William Findley was born in the north of Ire- land in 1741 or 1742, and was of Scotch-Irish extraction. He was a descendant of one of the old signers of the Solemn League and Covenant and another of his ancestors was a prominent defender of Derry, Ireland, in the noted siege of that place. He came to Pennsylvania at an early age and located in the famous Octorara settlement of Franklin county, where he taught school for several terms. Ile soon became quite popular, served six years as county commissioner and acquired considerable property. During the Revolutionary war he served as a captain in
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the Continental army. In 1781 he removed to Westmoreland county and settled in Unity town- ship, where he followed his trade of weaving for some time. He soon became an influential member of the Presbyterian church and a prom- inent political leader. He was soon elected to the Assembly as an anti-federalist. He was a member of the Board of Censors and repre- sented Westmoreland county in the Pennsylva- nia Constitutional Convention of 1789-90, where he introduced a resolution in favor of educating the poor gratis. William Findley was elected to Congress from the Westmoreland district in 1791, 1793, 1795, 1797, 1803, 1805, 1807, 1809, 1811, 1813, and 1815, and some of his old friends assert that he would have been returned to this time had he lived. He was an able and adroit politician and although he op- posed the adoption of the Federal Constitution and was a prominent participant in the Whiskey Insurrection, yet such was his tact that his con- stituents never forsook him. He was a rather fluent talker, a strong and forcible writer, but he was no public speaker, and secured his great power over the common people by his method of mingling with them.
Findley was one of the most prominent char- acters identified with the Whiskey Insurrection. His course at first seemed to encourage open resistance to the government, but he soon advo- vated obedience to the law and displayed good statesmanship in working for compromise mcas- ures. His " History of the Insurrection " was attacked by Brackenridge, and has been quoted by all historians who have written on that sub- jeet. Findley admitted that many of his state- ments were erroneous and prepared the manu- script for a revised edition which was lost on its way to the press. Findley is sarcastically represented by the character of Traddle, the weaver, in Brackenridge's " Modern Chivalry."
William Findley was twice married. By his first wife, whom he married in Franklin county, Pa., he had three children : David, an officer
in the Regular army ; Nellie, who married a Carothers, and Mary, who was the wife of John Black. His second wife was a widow Carothers.
In his dress Mr. Findley was very tasteful ; he was a large man ; his complexion was florid and he wore no beard. llis earthly career ended on the 5th day of April, 1821, when he had entered upon the eightieth year of his age. He sleeps in his adopted county whose annals will forever preserve his name.
YRUS B. FISHER is a son of Simon and Anna (Brinker) Fisher and was born September 30, 1854, in Mt. Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pa. His great- grandfather, Adam Fisher, was in all probability a native of Lancaster county, Pa., whence he emigrated about one hundred years ago to this county, settling on the farm where the subject of this sketch was born. He was connected with the German Reformed church and politi cally was a democrat. Adam Fisher (grand- father) was born on the homestead farm in Mt. Pleasant township and became the father of ten children. One of them, Simon Fisher (father), was born in the same township April 1, 1827, where he is a farmer and stock-raiser. Hle is a member of the Reformed church and in politics a democrat. He was first married to Anna Brinker, by whom he had six children : Emma, who died young ; Cyrus B., James B., Reuben (dead); William and one that died in infancy. The mother of these children died December, 1859, when Cyrus was but five years of age, and their father afterwards married Elizabeth Geiger, and to this marriage were born nine children : Annie, Harry, Clark, Andrew, Logan, Charles, Nellie, and two that died in infancy. Jacob Brinker (maternal grandfather) was a native of Westmoreland county and lived for many years on the farm where the coal works at Mutual now stand, but his latter days were spent at Latrobe, where he died at the advanced
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age of ninety-four years. His first wife was Anna Barnhart and his second Elizabeth Bott.
Cyrus B. Fisher had a common and normal school education and taught six terms of school, one of them as principal of the Texas schools near Mt. Pleasant. In 1883 he became one of the principal stockholders of the Sewickley Co- operative Association, of which he was the man- ager during the first year of its existence, and when the same was sold to the Sewickley Supply Company Mr. Fisher was made manager, which position he still holds. In politics he is rather independent, voting for the man best qualified for the position ; he belongs to the Reformed church while his wife is a presbyterian.
Cyrus B. Fisher was married December 21, 1882, to Maud M. Jamison, a daughter of Joseph and Maria (Miller) Jamison, of Unity township. To their union have been born three children : Joseph, born February 25th, 1884; Mary, born June 25th, 1889; and one that died in infancy.
1 OIIN W. FISHER, one of the well-to-do and comfortably situated farmers of Mt. Pleasant township, is a son of Adam and Elizabeth (Barnhart) Fisher, and was born on the farm on which he resides in Mt. Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pa., June 16, 1846. His paternal grandfather, John Fisher, was a native of the above named township, in which he resided until his death. His great- great-grandfather was a blacksunth and followed farming for many years. He was a democrat and a member of the Reformed church. He married Anna M. Butt and they had four sons and four daughters. One of these sons was Henry Fisher, who served in the late civil war. Abraham Barnhart, maternal grandfather, was a native of Mt. Pleasant township, where he spent his life in farming. Ile married Hannah Hughes, who bore him three children : Margaret, who married Isaac Shupe; Hannah, wife of George Hartzell, and Elizabeth. Adam Fisher
was born September 8, 1820, and has always followed farming. He is a democrat who has always supported his party and has served his township as judge, clerk, auditor, supervisor and school director. He married Elizabeth Barnhart in 1845. They have eight children : John W., Abraham, married Mary J. Crosby, and lives in Kansas City, Mo. ; Sarah A , wife of James Stairs, a blacksmith of Scottdale ; David, a farmer of Hempfield township, who married Lucinda Truxall; Hannah (deceased); Daniel, married Emma Brown, of Latrobe, and resides in East Huntingdon township; Amanda, mar- ried George F. Walker, who died in 1886 ; and Anna M., wife of Lincoln Fisher, a farmer of Cook township.
John W. Fisher was reared on a farm and attended the common schools of his neighbor- hood. Leaving school he engaged in farming which he has pursued ever since. Politically he is a democrat and always casts his ballot for the nominees of that party. Ilis mother's farm, containing one hundred and eighteen acres, is situated in the southern part of Mt. Pleasant township, which lies in the heart of the great Connellsville coking region.
ACOB FISIIER (deceased). The late Jacob Fisher was one of the reliable citizens and substantial farmers of Mt. Pleasant township. He was a son of John and Mary (Butt) Fisher and was born on the farm on which his widow now resides in Mt. Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, Pa., April 19, 1827.
Jacob Fisher was of German descent. His entire life was spent in farming. His opportu- nities for an education were only such as the district schools of that period afforded, but he so improved them that he was well qualified to transact all ordinary business and to converse intelligently upon all subjects of general interest. Ile always resided upon the farm on which he
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died and where he was successfully engaged for many years in grain-raising and stock-deal- ing. By economy and good management he had accumulated quite an amount of property and at the time of his death had fair prospects for acquiring considerable wealth. ITis farm of one hundred acres of land is situated two miles from Mt. Pleasant and he had made many im- provements upon it which have been continued by his widow, who is a woman of intelligence and good management. This farm is partly underlaid with coal and other valuable minerals and is in a good state of cultivation.
Jacob Fisher was married on October 13, 1857, to Esther Fulkwerth, daughter of Joseph and Esther (Stauffer) Fulkwerth. To Jacob and Esther Fisher were born nine children, six sons and three daughters : John, born September 15, 1858, married to Catherine Silliman and is en- gaged in farming in Fayette county, Pa .; Eliza- beth, born January 27, 1860, and wife of John Ritter, who resides at Ridgway and is a farmer ; William, born February 8, 1861, married Mary A. Nicholls and engaged in farming ; George, born December 26, 1862, (deceased); Christian, born July 25, 1864, married Emma Hough and is a farmer of South Huntingdon township; Anna Mary, born January 26, 1866 ; David, born November 25, 1867; Abram, born March 19, 1870; and Margaret, born April 5, 1874. Mrs. Fisher has been very successful in the man- agement of the farm since her husband's death.
In politics ho was a pronounced democrat and active in the interests of his party. He was a consistent member of the Reformed church. In the midst of an active and useful life Jacob Fisher was stricken down by the hand of death and passed away on February 5, 1878.
$ AMUEL B. FISHER, a justice of the peace and one of the most intelligent farmers of Mt. Pleasant township, is a son of William and Christina Barnhart (nee Bust)
Fisher, and was born January 15, 1843, in Mt. Pleasant township, Westmoreland county, l'a., on the farm where he now lives. Ilis great- grandfather, Adam Fisher, was a member of the Reformed church in Germany, where he was born, lived and died. One of his sons, Adam Fisher, immigrated to America and settled in Lancaster county, Pa., whence he removed at a very early day to Mt. Pleasant township, this county, where he followed farming, owning several hundred acres of land. In 1801 he built the first brick house in the county, making the brick for the same himself, and helping as mason and carpenter to ereet the building. This old relic of the beginning of the present century is still standing and is owned by the Fisher family. Mr. Fisher was a democrat and a fol- lower of Jefferson, the founder of that party. He married and became the father of three sons and one daughter. Charles L. Bush, maternal grandfather, was a native of Prussia, whence he fled to America on account of a religious dis- turbance. Ile settled in Mt. Pleasant township, this county, where he resided until his death.
Besides farming he also carried on a tannery for quite a number of years. He was a member of the Lutheran church and in politics accepted the teachings of Jefferson. He married a Miss Roan, by whom he had four children.
Mr. Fisher (father) was born in Lancaster county, this State, but when quite young came to Westmoreland county, settling in Mt. Pleas- ant township. His birth occurred in 1782, and he lived to be eighty-four years of age. Ile was a farmer, but being a man of more than ordinary genius he was also successful as a dis- tiller, cooper and blacksmith. Believing in the principles of democracy he did good service for that party but never aspired to office ; he was connected with the Reformed church.
He first married a Miss Rumbaugh and after her death married her sister Sarah. Ilis third wife was a Mrs. Barnhart (nee Bust), by whom he had four children, of whom Samuel B.
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and Rebecca are yet living, the latter being the wife of Jesse Griffen, of East Huntingdon town- ship.
Samuel B. Fisher, on the 30th of March, 1865, was united in marriage with Mary S. Myers, of Ligonier township, and to their union have been born three children. Harry A., a graduate of Iron City Business college and now bookkeeper for the United Coal and Coke Co .; William S., who is attending school preparing for the ministry ; and Edgar B., who is vet at home.
Samuel B. Fisher received his education in the public schools and at the Sewickley academy, after which he began farming, which he has always followed more or less, owning several tracts of good, well-improved land. Ile is a demo- crat and at present holds the office of justice of the peace in his native township; he has also served as school director but never has asked for any county office. Mr. Fisher together with wife and family belongs to the Reformed church, in which he is an elder. His home is a most pleasant one, his library is well filled with standard works on history, biography, art, etc., and he takes much more than ordinary interest in reading and general literature.
R. OBERT A. FOSTER, a man of conserva- tive political and religious views, and an intelligent and respected citizen of Derry township, is a son of James and Eliza (George) Foster, and was born in Salem township, West- moreland county, Pa., January 12, 1829. On his paternal side he is of Irish descent and on the maternal of Scotch-Irish extraction. Ilis grandfather, Robert Foster, was a native of county Derry, Ireland. He settled at an early day in Salem township, on Loyalhanna creek below the site of New Alexandria, where he cleared out a farm in what is now Salem town- ship and married a Miss Brovard. Hon. James Foster (father) was born in 1802. He followed
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