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James Howard McFarland

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JAMES HOWARD McFARLAND, deceased, formerly prothonotary and clerk of Armstrong county, Pa., was born April 6, 1868, in this county, a son of John and Martha J. (Stewart) McFarland.

John McFarland for many years engaged in contracting and building, but passed the closing years of his life on his farm. He was thrice married, the children born to his first union being: John; Malinda, who became the wife of John Morrow, and both are now deceased; Thomas, who served three years in the Civil war, being one of the youngest soldiers in the army, not yet twenty-one when his military term expired (he subsequently died at Alliance, Ohio); Matilda, who married Rev. William Porter; Maggie, the wife of William Hamilton; and Letitia, who married a Mr. Clauson. John McFarland, second marriage was to a Miss Lydick, and they had three children: Mason L., K. G., and Burdetta L., who married a Mr. O'Neil. Mr. McFarland's third marriage was to Martha J. (Stewart) McGranahan, and three children were born to them, namely: James Howard; George L., who is deceased; and Lucinda V., who is the wife of Dr. Robert Ambrose. The death of John McFarland occurred Jan. 8, 1892.

James Howard McFarland was a bright and ambitious boy. From the public schools he entered the Indiana State Normal School and later was a student in the university at Lebanon, Ohio, subsequently becoming a teacher, at the age of sixteen, and giving sixteen years of his life to educational work. He became one of the best known educators in the county. Immediately after leaving school, however, he went to Elk county, and was engaged there for eighteen months in the lumber business, and for some time afterward was interested in railroad construction. In 1895 he became deputy sheriff of Armstrong county and continued in office for three years, when he was appointed a mail carrier at Kittanning, and served in that capacity for six years. In politics a zealous Republican, he was justly considered when election to public offices of responsibility was a necessity, and in 1908 he was elected prothonotary and county clerk of Armstrong county and served faithfully and efficiently until the close of his useful life, his death occurring Aug. 14, 1911.

In October, 1893, Mr. McFarland was married to Bessie Kennerell, daughter of James Kennerell, and they had four children: Genevieve K., Charles Howard, James Edward, and John Herbert, who died in infancy. Mr. McFarland took a great deal of interest in all outdoor sports and was a base ball enthusiast.

Source: Pages 446, Armstrong County, Pa., Her People, Past and Present, J.H. Beers & Co., 1914
Transcribed September 2001 by Vaughn Davis for the Armstrong County Beers Project
Contributed for use by the Armstrong County Genealogy Project (http://www.pa-roots.com/armstrong/)

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