My Genealogy Hound

JOHN FARMERIE, the grandfather of John A. Farmerie, the subject of this sketch, was a native of France; emigrated to this country in 1828, and settled in Ross township, Allegheny county, Pa., as a farmer. He had seven children, viz.: George, James, Nicholas, Christopher, Catherine, Mary and Elizabeth. His sons George, James and Nicholas married, in the old St. Patrick’s R. C. Church, the three daughters of Anthony Yerkins, who was a native of Coin, on the Rhine, Germany, and came to this country in 1820, settling in Allegheny Town, running a ferry-flat from Allegheny to Pittsburgh, poled by hand and used for transporting passengers and marketing horses and cattle. George and Elizabeth Farmerie, the parents of John A. Farmerie, were married in 1837; they followed farming and kept a public house on the old Butler and Freeport pike. Mr. Farmerie also ran a boat, called the church boat, in 1848, on the old canal, from Pine creek to Pittsburgh. He and his wife had eight children, viz.: Elizabeth, John A., Barbara, George, Nicholas C., Wilson H., Catherine and Andrew. Politically the father was a democrat.

John A. Farmerie, eldest son of George and Elizabeth Farmerie, was born in 1840, and married Anna M., the third daughter of Lawrence and Mary Ann Winschell. Lawrence Winschell was born in Bavaria, and immigrated to this country in 1830, finally settling in Sharpsburg, where he became an extensive property-holder. He was a devout Catholic and an uncompromising democrat. Mr. and Mrs. John A. Farmerie were married in 1869, at St. Mary’s R. C. Church, Sharpsburg, by Rev. Father Shell, and their union was blessed with five children, viz.: John L., Rachel M., Lovina A., Rozella E. and Emma P. John A. Farmerie, in 1860, entered into partnership with R. T. Graham, in buying lumber and oil, and in 1863 and 1864 ran a steam ferry at Sharpsburg, on the Allegheny river, where the first bridge erected at this point had been destroyed by fire, and until the bridge was rebuilt they continued in partnership. They, in 1865, built a sawmill at the mouth or junction of Pine creek and the Allegheny river, and Mr. Farmerie still retains a half interest in the sawmill. He is also engaged in the gas-fitting and plumbing business in Etna. He is a natural mechanic and a practical millwright. He is a strict Catholic and a sturdy democrat.