INTRODUCTIONThis transcription of the Ferguson Family History is the last of the family histories left to me by my father. This record of the Ferguson family is brief and covers four generations, bringing you to where the Ferguson, McGuire, Finlay and Towslee Clans intersect. This has been and will continue to be a labor of love for me. It is a way to honor my dad and know him in a way that may not have been possible were circumstaces different. As with all the pages on this site, I hope that they provide enlightment and help you reach whatever goals you possess in regards to your own personal searches. Laura Julliette Towslee-Hadfield THE FERGUSON FAMILY HISTORYMarried Jane McGuire on December 11, 1811. Jane died August 22, 1818. Sarah Ferguson, November 22, 1815 - August 1, 1872 William Finlay, February 12, 1811 - April 6, 1872 Married, October 27, 1836 Martha Ann Finlay, March 12, 1848 - April 8, 1919 David Lorenzo Towslee, February 22, 1846 - October, 1921 Married September 28, 1869 Ancestor, Walter Ferguson was born May 9, 1786 in Ireland. He came to America with his parents at the age of two, in 1788. The family located on a farm in western Pennsylvania where Walter grew to manhood. He became a textile expert, a weaver of fine linen and wool. He married Jane McGuire, December 19, 1811 and Jane passed away August 22, 1818. On January 20, 1820, he married Rebecca Paul who died March 7, 1848. Walter then married Jane McClure a widow. He was the father of ten children. The family came to Wayne County, Ohio in 1829, and settled one and one-fourth miles north of Congress, Ohio. Walter Ferguson is at rest, July 19, 1871, in Congress, Ohio. Jane McGuire, daughter of John McGuire, was born and raised in Pennsylvania. She married Walter Ferguson, December 19, 1811, and was the mother of five children. She is at rest in Pennsylvania. Family of Walter and Jane McGuire Ferguson: Mary Ferguson Jeffrey, September 15, 1812 - February 14, 1839 Margaret Ferguson, April 9, 1814 - August 10, 1818 Sarah Ferguson Finlay, November 22, 1815 - August 1, 1863 Martha Ferguson Nelson, March 20, 1817 - September 28, 1846 John Ferguson, May 20, 1818 - September 22, 1818 Rebecca Paul married Walter Ferguson in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania January 20, 1820.To this union were born five children. Rebecca passed away from this world, March 7, 1848. The Ferguson Family History is rich with the achievementsof these industrious people. We do not know the names of all the Ferguson Family other than Walter; and we do not know the size of the family that came to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from Ireland in the year 1788, the year before George Washington was first inaugurated and the year before the First Congress of the United States convened. Walter was two years old when his parents crossed the sea to America. A baby daughter, Walter's sister, was born enroute to the United States. The Ferguson's apparently were skilled in textile industries and promoted that craft on a farm in Pennsylvania. From the flax grown on their land and the wool sheared from their sheep, they produced from the raw material the finest of linen and woolen fabrics woven and ready for use. Irish linen has been famous for generations and the Ferguson's were experts in workmanship. In craftsmenship of design and delicate work, materials of lasting and marvelous value were produced. The raw in flax and wool, was cleansed, carded, spun, dyed, and woven by hand from which the finest of linen cloth was made. Included were clothing, bedding and table items made of linen, as well as blankets and clothing of wool. Some of this handiwork was still in good condition after more than 100 years of use. Aunt Sarah Niesz indicated that in her family there "are many articles made by the hands of Walter Ferguson, highly prized and cherished because they represent the ability of our worthy ancestor and show the resourcefulness of the pioneers to whom we owe our well-being, a Great-Grandfather Walter Ferguson." Of achievements there seems no end. The timberlands provided logs for building house and barn, wood for furniture and fuel, and the fields produced food for man and animal...cattle, horses, hogs and sheep...which, in turn, provided livelihood. Dense forests covered Ohio when the Walter Ferguson family moved from Pennsylvania in 1829 to their family farm location in Northern Wayne County, north of the little village of Congress, Ohio. Buildings were made of logs and located near a spring and here the Ferguson's made their home from which generations have gone. Until a few years ago, the homestead was still owned by the descendants, Walter and Reba Ferguson, great-grandchildren of the original owner. Precise ownership of the property is not known by the writer at this time in 1967. Aunt Sarah Niesz said that she was once privileged to visit the old workshop which was in the log house by the spring where Great-Grandfather Walter Ferguson did his weaving. Although long in disuse much of the equipment remained. Big and little spinning wheels, carders, reels, looms and various tools greatly thrilled the visitors with its lasting memory. She said she also had a ladder backed chair handed down through the generations, a pure wool white blanket, and several pieces of linens from the hands of this noble ancestor Walter Ferguson. The Ferguson's like the Finlay's, were devout Irish Presbyterians. The Ferguson's of near Congress and the Finlay's of near West Salem soon formed a relationship with the marrige of Sarah Ferguson to William Finlay. Walter Ferguson was a farmer as well as an artisan of crafts. The homestead acreage was well cultivated and highly productive. His weaving resulted in the finest linen and woolen goods, and also produced a fabric known as "homespun" which was used for coarse clothing, bed-ticking, etc. Added to the above named skills was that of cabinet maker. He was an expert in making wood furniture including tables, chairs, chests of drawers, cupboards, bedsteads and other needed items of furniture for a pioneer home. We may marvel how it was done! All the family lent a hand at every task. A large household was usually an asset in any vocation or enterprise in those early days. The deeply religious instinct gave the family that bond of affection that is a precious heritage! Mary Ferguson, eldest daughter of Walter and Jane McGuire Ferguson, was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania on September 15, 1812. She came to Ohio with her parents in 1829. Later, she married William Jeffrey and had a family and many descendants. Margaret Ferguson, daughter or Walter and Jane McGuire Ferguson, was born April 9, 1814 in Pennsylvania and passed away August 10, 1818, age four years and four months. Sarah Ferguson Finlay, daughter of Walter and Jane McGuire Ferguson, was born in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania on November 22, 1815. With the family she came to Ohio in 1829. She grew to womanhood on the family farm in Congress Township, Wayne County, Ohio. She married William Finlay, October 27, 1836 and together they established their home in Homer Township, Medina county, Ohio. There they raised a family of eight children. Two other little ones passed away in early childhood. Sarah passed away August 1, 1863. For additional details,see Finlay Family History. Martha Ferguson Nelson, daughter of Walter and Jane McGuire Ferguson, was born March 20, 1817 in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. She came to Ohio with her parents in 1829. She married William Nelson and they moved to Iowa. No further records are available. John Ferguson, only son of Walter and Jane McGuire Ferguson was born May 20, 1818 and passed away September 22, 1818, having lived a scant four months. Hannah Ferguson McCoy, daughter of Walter and Rebecca Paul Ferguson, was born in Pennsylvania, March 10, 1821. She came to Ohio with her parents in 1829 and settled with them in Congress Township, Wayne County, Ohio. She married Matthew McCoy and to them were born three sons; Walter, William and John. They resided in Indiana. Hannah died in 1904. Jane Ferguson, daughter of Walter and Rebecca Paul Ferguson, was born in Pennsylvania, March 18, 1823, and accompanied her parents to Congress Township, Ohio in 1829 at the age of six. She remained single and was "Auntie" to all the younger generations. It was she who "kept the home fires burning"! She was her mother's helper and the standby of the home. She died in 1858. Thomas Ferguson, son of Walter and Rebecca Paul Ferguson, was born June 7, 1825 in Pennsylvania, and was but four years old when the family came to Congress Township, Wayne County, Ohio in 1829. He grew up on the farm and to him fell the honor of carrying on the family name and traditions. He married Rebecca Patterson and to them were born six sons and two duaghters, namely, Dr. James Ferguson of West Salem; Merle Ferguson, of Congress Township; O. P. Ferguson of Wooster, Ohio; Reuben Ferguson of Congress Township; Virtue Ferguson of Congress, Ohio; Charles Ferguson; Emma Ferguson Jacobs; and Mary Ferguson Wright. Dr. James Ferguson had three children: Reed, Thomas and Mary Love. Merle Ferguson had three daughters; Ola Topper, Maggie Baker and Emma Keener. O. P. Ferguson had seven children: Grace Martin, Ruth Garver, Carrie, Gladys, John, Paul and Carl. Reuben Ferguson had three children: Walter, Reba and Jennie Miller. Virtue Ferguson, the fifth son, never married. Charles Ferguson, the youngest son of Thomas and Rebecca Patterson Ferguson, married Dora Fuhrman, they had no children. Emma Ferguson married Frank Jacobs, they had no children. Mary Ferguson, the youngest daughter of Thomas and Rebecca Patterson Ferguson, married Mark Wright. They had no children. Rebecca Ferguson Elgin, daughter of Walter and Rebecca Paul Ferguson, was born October 30, 1827 in Pennsylvania, She was but a babe in arms when brought to the Ohio home. She grew to womanhood and married Wesley Elgin. they resided in Congress Township and raised a large family. She had many descendants, one of whom was Flora Galloway Myers, late of Lodi, Ohio. Nancy Ferguson, daughter of Walter and Rebecca Paul Ferguson, was born May 12, 1830, the youngest child of the family and the only one to be born in Ohio. She was a winsome, delicate child, and passed away in the springtime of her life when but 16 years of age, in 1846. Rebecca Paul Ferguson, second wife of Walter Ferguson, passed away March 7, 1848. Walter Ferguson married a third wife, Jane McClure, a widow, who had two sons. Walter Ferguson passed on July 19, 1871 and is at rest in Congress, Ohio. Following his death Jane McClure Ferguson moved to California. |