Lake County Biographies
F
DR. WILLIAM
HENRY
FAHS
DR. FAHS was born in
Bainbridge, Pa., on January 3, 1865. His ancestors on the paternal side
were originally from Holland, and most of them engaged in farming in
Pennsylvania. Dr. Fahs received his education at Wittenburg College, in
Springfield, Ohio, at Selinsgrove Institute, Selinsgrove, Pa., and at
Gettysburg College,
from which latter institution he received the degree of A. B., in 1890;
also Lutheran Theological Seminary, Gettysburg, Pa. He entered
the ministry of the Lutheran Church at Mifflintown, Pa., where he
remained
for fifteen years and then removed to Tyrone, Pa. From there he came to
Florida, in 1917, at the instigation of the business men of the town,
to investigate business conditions. He settled first at Fruitland Park,
where he acted as general manager of the County Landowners'
Association,
later moving to Leesburg and purchasing a feed store; but ultimately he
went out of business there and entered the ministry of the Presbyterian
Church. Dr. Fahs was one of the most popular Presbyterian ministers
that ever resided in Leesburg, and his work for the church and for the
community at large will long be remembered. He served as President of
the Board
of School Trustees and also as President of the Leeshurg Chamber of
Commerce, and was one of the organizers of the De Molays in Leesburg.
He was always prominent in the Masonic lodge and was elected Worshipful
Master of the
local lodge. He was married to Ida K. Nichols on July 28, 1892, at
Fairview, Pa., and to this union two children were born: John L., of
Leesburg,
and Mrs. Maud Nichols Aurand, of Wheeling, West Virginia. Dr. Fahs
died at Leesburg, November 28, 1923. [He was buried at Lone Oak
Cemetery,
Leesburg. His wife, Ida K. Nicholas Fahs died 6 February 1947, and was
buried next to her husband.]
from: History
of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief,
History of Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical.
Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida
p207.
Submitted
by Glorianne
Fahs
H. FEIGIN
H. Feigin was born in Russia on May 16,
1881, and came to the United States in 1901, settling first in New York
City, where he remained for two years, after which he removed to Tampa,
Florida, and from there went to Jacksonville.
Mr. Feigin came to Eustis in 1909, where
he arrived with $16.40 in his pocket and commenced his eminently
successful business career peddling with a pack on his back throughout
Lake County.
In 1911 he started a small store in
Eustis, continuing selling on the road also. Mr.
Feigin’s business was so prosperous that he bought the
building which was at one time used as the post office of
Eustis. The building has been enlarged at four different
times to accommodate the store which now contains a complete line of
women’s, men’s and children’s wearing
apparel, and is known
as one of the best stocked and best managed retail stores in the
county. Mr. Feigin also maintains branch stores at Mr. Dora
and Tavares,
where he also does a thriving business.
Mr. Feigin is a very progressive
business man and has taken an active part in the upbuilding of Eustis,
and his career should serve as an inspiration to young men of Florida
who are able to start life with much greater advantages than Mr. Feigin
did.
He has always taken an interest in the
Eustis Chamber of Commerce, of which he is now a member, and he belongs
to the Knights of Pythias, and is a Mason and a Shriner.
He was married on December 27, 1911,
to Lillian L. Morin, daughter of one of Lake County’s oldest
residents. Three children have been born in Eustis to this
union: Harry M., Jr., Irving N., and Charlotte.
from: History of Lake
County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy, Editor-in-chief, History of
Lake County Florida Part II, Biographical. Biographical
Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County, Florida p207-208.
GEORGE
WASHINGTON FERGUSON
George Washington Ferguson was born on June 28, 1888, in Varnville,
Hampton County, South Carolina. His parents were George P. Ferguson and
Cecilia Christine Beasley Ferguson. The family migrated to Leesburg
about 1907 with several other families from the Varnville area. They
settled in Bamboo, Florida (between Wildwood and Leesburg) where the
Goethe family set up a sawmill. After several years, the sawmill was
moved to Okahumpka, Florida, and the families relocated.
In August 1910, George married Sula Kent of Dothan, AL. They had six
children: Alice Marie Ferguson, Annie Belle Ferguson (died @ birth),
Royce Pinkney Ferguson, George Thornton Ferguson, Homer Kent Ferguson,
and Fairby Ann Ferguson.
George was made the superintendent of Lake County roads in the
1940’s, a position which he held for more than twenty years.
Most of the roads of the county at that time were clay, and he
supervised the crews that built, graded and maintained the roads. He
was also a deacon of the First Baptist Church of Leesburg and later the
Central Baptist Church of Leesburg. George was a very proud man,
standing 6’5” tall, and though with only a third
grade education, taught himself to read and insisted that his children
complete high school.
Submitted
by N. Copeland
EDGAR
L. FERRAN
One whose name
will long be remembered with honor in Eustis, is Edgar L. Ferran, who
was born near North Vernon, Indiana, November 21, 1846, son of John and
Nancy Smith Ferran. He
attended the public schools of his native State, and afterward worked
for
twenty-four years in a general store in Indiana.
Becoming interested in the publicity
that in the early eighties was being sent to the north concerning
healthfulness of central Florida, Mr. Ferran came to Eustis in 1883 to
investigate,
and was so pleased with the prospects that he purchased a lot on Bay
Street and arranged for the erection of a store building.
With W. M. and M. R. Moore, he formed a partnership under the name of
Ferran, Moore & Bro., and opened a dry goods and clothing store
in 1884, moving his family from Indiana the same year.
In 1893 the firm purchased and enlarged
the brick building at the corner of Bay and Magnolia Avenue, and in
1896 Mr. Ferran became sole owner of the business, later taking his
sons into partnership. When the E. L. Ferran Co. was
incorporated, he became its president and so remained until his death,
though he was not active in the business for some years.
Throughout his thirty-nine years in Lake
County, Mr. Ferran was prominent in work for his town, his county,
and his church. He was superintendent of the Sunday School
and
an elder of the First Presbyterian Church nearly all his life in
Eustis.
He served several terms as Councilman and City Treasurer, and was one
of the first three Bond Trustees of Lake County. For several
years
before his death, he was Vice-President of the First State Bank of
Eustis,
and served for many years as President or Managing Secretary of the
Eustis
Board of Trade, later the Chamber of Commerce. For some time
he
was chief owner and associate editor of the Eustis Lake
Region. He
was one of the most enthusiastic of the good roads boosters of Lake
County,
and was largely responsible for the promotion and erection of the
Eustis
Public Library; in fact, was identified with every movement for the
improvement
of Eustis and Lake County. As a tribute to his untiring work
for
his community his fellow-citizens named the park along the waterfront
of
Lake Eustis the E. L. Ferran Park.
Mr. Ferran was married in November,
1871, to Lucy Avery, of Willimantic, Connecticut, and to this union
five children were born: Clarence, Inez (Mrs. D. L. Thrasher), Ray,
Harry, and Carl. Mrs. Ferran still resides in the magnificent
home on Orange Avenue built by Mr. Ferran, which is one of the finest
homes in Eustis.
Mr. Ferran died March 15, 1923, greatly
mourned by all who knew him, and his death was felt as a distinct loss
not only in Eustis but throughout Lake County.
from:
History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy,
Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II,
Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading Citizens of Lake County,
Florida p208.
SENATOR
TRUMAN G. FUTCH
Senator Truman
G. Futch, one of the leading lawyers of Lake County, was born in
Bradford County, Florida, October 1st, 1891, son of William S. and
Martha Futch. His parents were both native Floridians.
Mr. Futch received his education in the
country schools of Bradford County and studied law in the offices of D.
E. Knight at Starke, Florida. He was admitted to the bar in
1913 and practiced at Lake Butler until 1915, when he moved to
Leesburg. The first two
years at Leesburg, he practiced alone but in 1917 he formed a
partnership
with Judge J. B. Gaines with whom he has been associated ever since
except
for the four years Judge Gaines served as Assistant Attorney General of
Florida. The law firm of Gaines & Futch is recognized
as one
of the leading ones of Florida and a very large practice is enjoyed
throughout
Lake County.
Mr. Futch has always held various
important positions in line with his profession: he was representative
in the State Legislature in 1919 to 1921 and served as
State’s Attorney for the sixteenth Judicial Circuit from 1923
to 1925, and at the present time he is City Attorney of Leesburg, which
position he has held continuously for thirteen years. He was
elected to the State Senate in November, 1929, for the four-year term.
He holds membership in the American,
State and County Bar Associations and is a member and Past President of
the Rotary Club of Leesburg.
His religious affiliations are with the
Church of Christ.
He was married in Bradford County to
Lilly May Anderson and has two children: Truman G., Junior, and
Elizabeth
A.
from:
History of Lake County Florida, Wm. T. Kennedy,
Editor-in-chief, History of Lake County Florida Part II,
Biographical. Biographical Sketches of Leading
Citizens of Lake County, Florida p213.
