John Fausold Biography from "Old and New Westmoreland"

Old and New Westmoreland
Capt. Fenwick Y. Hedley
Vol. III
The American Historical Society
New York, 1918

The Hon.. John Fausold was born in Bedford county, Pennsylvania, 1808. He came with his parents to Mt. Pleasant township, and at the age of twenty years joined the Donegal Evangelical Lutheran church. He was a farmer by occupation. but served in public life for fifty-five years and held numerous offices of trust and responsibility. He was sequestrator of The Mt. Pleasant and Somerset turnpike; served creditably as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1846. 1847-48, 1856 and 1857, and was appointed revenue commissioner in ;1863 for the judicial district of Westmorland, Indiana, and Armstrong counties. - He served as 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 ten years later. They were the parents of seven children, of whom Martin Luther Fausold was one. The Hon, John Fausold died November 14. 1884,.and at the -age of 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 the Rev. A. D. Potts, D. D. From the eloquent and able discourse delivered at this time the following is an 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. His wide experience, his extended usefulness, his sage counsel. his white locks, made me revere him as a father in Israel. His noble life and peaceful death should actuate us to imitate his example. His time, his means, his influence and his heart was used for the extension of Zion and the glory of God.

The Hon John Fausold was thus one of the most prominent men in the history of Westmoreland county and his name was a household word in those communities with which he was most closely identified.

Martin L. Fausold was reared on his father's farm in Mt. Pleasant township. where he was born June 26, 1853. He received his education in the common schools of this region and the Mount Pleasant and Madison Normal schools. At seventeen years of age he commenced teaching, and followed this profession for eight years in his native township. When finally he gave up this work, he engaged in farming and stock raising. In the year 1889 he purchased a farm in Unity township, a property consisting of thirty acres, and shortly afterwards bought an additional tract of forty-four acres in the near neighborhood, and still later bought a tract of twenty-three acres. Politically he was 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 Mt. Pleasant township.

He was a member of the A. Y. M. and of St. Paul's Evangelical Lutheran Church of Mt. Pleasant township, in which he was confirmed July 19, 1874, by Dr. S. L Harkey. He held various local offices in this church and was a trustee at the time of his death. He was justice of the peace for eighteen years in Unity township, and was also president of the School Board of Unity township at the time of his death, which occurred November 5, 1912. Mr. Fausold had a passion for education and was a man of strong philanthropic instincts. On October 5, 1876 he was married by Dr. Harkey to Ada 0. Hays, a daughter of Samuel and Catharine Hays of Mt. Pleasant township. Mrs. Fausold's death occurred April 13. 1916. They were the parents of the following children: Grace, who became the wife of Timothy Horner, of Unity township, where he was engaged in business as a farmer and dealer in lumber, and resided on the M.L. Fausold farm in Unity township; Ada, who was a teacher in the schools of Pittsburgh; John, who was engaged in farming in Unity township, Charles, who was principal of the schools of Manlius, New York, and married to Eleanor Gilmote, of that State; Samuel, of whom further.

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