FANCHER
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Peter Fancher married Hannah Waterbury, 28 December 1786, South Salem Church,
Westchester County NY. Their son was Jonathan Waterbury
Fancher who was born on 20 Dec 1802 in Berne, Albany County, New York. Jonathan Waterbury Fancher married GulaElma
Hicks. GulaElma was the daughter of
Caleb and Margaret Hicks of Van Renselaer County, New York. Jonathan may have died in 1875 in California
and was last seen in 1870 in “Hails”, Merced County, California in a voter
registration listing. GulaElma (Hicks)
Fancher died in 1849 in New York State. Jonathan
is buried in the Oak Ridge Cemetery in Buchanan, Berrien County, Michigan. On his grave marker is also an inscription
for GulaElma who died in 1849. The 1850
census shows Jonathan and children in Hastings, Oswego County, New York so that
is likely where Gula Elma was buried. Jonathan and Gula Elma (Hicks) Fancher had
children: Margarett Fancher born 22 Sep 1825 in
Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York. She
died on 02 May 1860. George Hicks Fancher born 09 Feb 1828 in
Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York and died on 30 Mar 1900 in Tuttle, Merced
County, CA. Edwin Powell Fancher born about 1830
in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York. Alva Fancher born about 1832 in Syracuse,
Onondaga County, New York died on 23 Dec 1862 while serving in the Civil War
with the Union troops at Fort Monroe Virginia-Co. “D” 110th New York
Infantry. Sarah Elizabeth Fancher born about
1834 in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York. Jonathan Waterbury Fancher (Jr.)
born 02 Oct 1836 in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York. Married Margaret Roe. He died in Stockton, CA
on 28 Jan 1926 and was buried in Buchanan, MI on 01 Feb 1926. Electus Bechus Fancer bonr about
1839 Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York. Francis Bradley Fancher born about
1842 in Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York and died on 23 Dec 1867 in
Buchanan, Berrien County, Michigan.
Grave marker gives name as Frank. Served in the Civil war with the Union
troops-Co. “K” 25th Infantry Regiment-Michigan. Charles Willis Fancher born 14 Feb
1844 Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York died 04 Feb 1925 in San Jose, CA, served
in the Civil War with the Union troops-Co. “K” 25th Infantry
Regiment- Michigan. Levi Rolla Fancher born 09 Dec 1845
Syracuse, Onondaga County, New York died 01 Sep 1936 in Merced County, CA, served
in the Civil War with the Union troops-Battery “F” 3rd Light
Artillery Regiment-New York. The
1850 census of Hastings, Oswego County, New York includes: Waterbury Fancher 45 years of age,
Cooper Edwin Fancher 17 years of age George Fancher 22 years of age Elizabeth Fancher 15 years of age Jonathan Fancher 13 years of age Lectus Fancher 11 years of age Bradley Fancher 9 years of age Willis Fancher 7 years of age Levi Fancher 5 years of age When George Hicks Fancher died he
had set aside money to build a monument for himself. The monument was erected and stands 68 feet all an obelisk rising out of fields of
tomatoes and bell peppers on a huge farm near Tuttle in Central
California. Catherine Julien, historian and director of the
Merced County Courthouse Museum, maintains a file of old newspaper clippings
reporting George Fancher's death and the 10-year court battle over the $25,000
he left for "proper interment of my remains in a suitable monument." "George
Hicks Fancher was not a big spender during his lifetime," noted Julien.
"He had a reputation of being a skinflint who scrounged away his money and
spent little on himself. The obelisk is his monument to himself." Fancher
had come to California from upstate New York in 1850 to prospect for gold. He
was a gold miner for six years, farmed in Stockton for 13 years, then moved to
Merced in 1869, where he amassed a fortune as a farmer and banker. Never
married, Fancher left an estate valued at $608,000 when he died at age 72.
Except for the money for his memorial, he left it all to 17 heirs--brothers,
sisters, nephews and nieces. After Fancher's death, a local schoolteacher,
Robert Gracey, filed suit to stop erection of the monument and calling for
using the $25,000 instead to build a public library in Merced. The teacher saw
a library as a more fitting tribute to the pioneer. But Fancher's heirs said
no--the money had to be used to build the monument he requested. It took 10
years and two trips to the appellate courts before the heirs were finally
granted permission to build the obelisk. When completed in 1911, Fancher's
fanciful legacy was reportedly the largest tomb for an individual in
California. Fancher established a $1,000 trust in his will, the earnings of
which were to be used for the care and maintenance of the monument. Jonathan
Waterbury Fancher Jr. Married Margaret Roe on 31 Oct 1860. During the 1870 and 1880 census of Buchanan,
Berrien County, Michigan he is listed as a school teacher. Jonathan and Margaret (Roe) Fancher had
children: Alva Clinton Fancher born 16 Jun
1861 in Buchanan, MI and died 19 Jul 1936 in Merced County, CA married Maud
Alvord. Melvin Hicks Fancher born 16 Nov
1864 in Buchanan, MI and died 27 Apr 1954 in Starke County IN. Warren Elsworth Fancher born 26 Nov
1866 and died on 05 Nov 1870 in Buchanan, MI George Alison Fancher born 20 Feb
1869 in Buchanan, MI married Anna Brown and lived in Kansas. Willis Wesley Fancher born 09 Apr
1871 in Buchanan, MI married Eva Lou Fletcher in Kane County, IL died on 29 Apr
1941 in Los Angeles County, CA. Clarence Llewellen Fancher born 11
Feb 1875 in Buchanan, MI married Lydia A. Lindsay in Wyoming in 1903. He died 05 Aug 1964 in Fresno, CA Irena May Fancher born 27 May 1877
and died 18 Jul 1879 in Buchanan, MI Lona Loena Fancher born 02 Apr 1879
in Buchanan, MI married Dr. Edward Clark Winans. She died 18 Sep 1962 Cloe Vida Fancher born 24 Jul 1881
in Buchanan, MI married 20 Sep 1905 in Hamlet, Starke County, Indiana to James L.
Denaut M.D. She died 08 Sep 1970 The
1870 census of Buchanan, Berrien County, MI includes: Jonathan Fancher 32 years of age,
School Teacher Margaret Fancher 27 years of age Alva Fancher 8 years of age Melvin Fancher 5 years of age Marien Fancher 3 years of age Geo Fancher 1 year of age The
1880 census of Buchanan, Berrien County, MI includes: Jonathan Fancher 43 years of age,
School Teacher Margaret Fancher 40 years of age Alvan C. Fancher 19 years of age Melvin H. Fancher 15 years of age George A. Fancher 11 years of age Willie W. Fancher 9 years of age Clarence L. Fancher 5 years of age L. L. Fancher 1 year of age The
1900 census of Davis, Starke County, IN includes: Jonathan Hancher 63 years of age,
Farmer Margaret Hancher 59 years of age George A. Hancher 31 years of age Anna Hancher 26 years of age (wife
of George) Lona Hancher 21 years of age Cloe Hancher 18 years of age. Note: Name should be Fancher not Hancher. Margaret
C. (Roe) Fancher died on 12 May 1908 in Davis Township, Starke County, IN. According to the sexton’s records at Oak
Ridge Cemetery in Buchanan, MI she was buried in grave # 3 section 20 plot
2. Jonathan Fancher died in Stockton,
California and was buried in grave # 4 section 20 plot 2 next to his wife on 01
Feb 1926. Also buried in this plot are their children, Irena May and Warren
Elsworth Fancher as well as his brother Frank B. and his father Jonathan W.
Fancher. Jonathan and Margaret (Roe) Fancher’s
grave markers read “Mother” and “Father”.
“GEORGE A. FANCHER,
proprietor of the Fancher Printing Company of Coffeyville is a veteran of the
printing art and has followed his trade in many states and towns all over the
Far West. For the past thirty years his home and center of activities have been
in different cities of Kansas and he is now proprietor of one of the leading
job offices in the southern part of the state. He comes of old and substantial
American stock, Mr. Fancher's great-grandfather was a soldier in the
Revolution. J. W. Fancher,
grandfather of the Coffeyville business man, was born in New York State in
1792. He spent most of his life in his native state as a farmer, and when he
retired he moved to Michigan, living with his son J. W., Jr., and died at the
latter's home in Buchanan, Michigan, in 1876. He married Eliazbeth Hicks,
who was born in New York State and died at Syracuse. She was a Quakeress and a
regularly ordained preacher in that faith. The children of these worthy people
were: Alva, who enlisted in a New York regiment in the Civil war and died while
in service; George H., who became a banker and died at San Francisco,
California; Bradley C., who was a lumberman and was killed in an accident in a
sawmill at Berrien Springs, Michigan; J. W. Fancher, Jr., father of George A.;
Lee R., who is a banker at Merced, California, and was a soldier for four years
in a New York regiment of infantry during the Civil war, and the sixth of the
family was also a volunteer from New York in the war and was killed in one of
the battles in which his regiment engaged. Mr. George A. Fancher
was born at Buchanan, Michigan, February 20, 1868. His father, J. W. Fancher,
is now living retired at Merced, California. He was born at Syracuse, New York,
in 1838, was reared there, educated in the public schools and afterwards in the
schools of Ypsilanti, Michigan. As a young man he went to Buchanan, Michigan,
where he married. By trade he was a cooper, and at one time he served as
principal of the public schools of Buchanan. He has been a successful business
man and now has extensive land holdings in Michigan, Indiana and California.
While a resident of Berrien County, Michigan, he served as sheriff and also as
chief of police at Buchanan. Politically he is a democrat. J. W. Fancher
married Miss Margaret Roe, who was born in 1842 in LaPorte County, Indiana, and
died at Davis in that state in May, 1906. Their children were: Alva C., who is
a rancher at Athlone, California; Melvin H., who lives on one of his father's
farms in Starke County, Indiana; George H., who is the third in age;
Willis, a fruit farmer at Los Angeles, California; Clarence, who lives on one
of his father's farms at Merced, California; Lona, wife of Doctor Winan, a
physician in Chicago; Chloe, wife of Doctor Denaught, a physician at Hamlet,
Indiana. While attending the
public schools at Buchanan, Michigan, George A. Fancher learned printing in one
of the newspaper offices there, and in 1884, following his graduation from the
Buchanan High School, he went to Chicago and had his first journeyman's
experience in that city. He had his share of traveling about over the country
as nearly all printers do, and from Chicago went to Leadville, Colorado, and in
1886 reached Kansas and secured employment at his trade in Hutchinson. In 1889
he went to Saline, and from there to Winfield in 1891. He followed the trade at
Winfield for ten years. In 1901 he moved to Iola, and from there four years
later came to Coffeyville, where he has had his home and his business since
1905. At Coffeyville he was employed for four years as a printer in the offices
of the Journal. In 1909 Mr. Fancher
established the Fancher Printing Company, which has complete mechanical
facilities and an organization of expert printers for all classes of jobs of
printing. His plant is at 108 West Tenth Street. Mr. Fancher resides in a
country home with ten acres of ground three miles northeast of Coffeyville, and
built his attractive residence there in 1910. He also owns a dwelling house at
302 East Eleventh Street and another at 612 East Fifth Street. Politically he is a
republican. He is a member of the Chamber of Commerce and affiliates with
Coffeyville Camp No. 665, Modern Woodmen of America. In 1895 at Winfield,
Kansas, he married Miss Anna Brown, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. H. C. Brown. Her
father was a farmer now deceased and her mother still lives in Winfield. Mr.
and Mrs. Fancher have two children. Alva Keath was born April 20, 1905, and is
now in the public schools at Coffeyville. Carl Prentice was born May 14, 1909,
and is attending school in the country district near his father's home.” A
History of St. Joseph County, Indiana was authored by
Timothy Edward Howard and was published in1907 by the Lewis Publishing Company
of Chicago and New York. On page 960 of
that work there are biographies of some Denuat family members who were Doctors in
St. Joseph County. In the biography for
Matthew S. Denuat, M. D. you can read:
“Only four children are now living: … Dr. James L. is a leading medical
practitioner of Hamlet, Indiana. The
last named, after completing his literary training in the high schools of
Canada, entered Rush Medical College of Chicago, from which he was graduated
with the class of 1896, and entered the medical profession at Mark Center,
Ohio, a short time after, in 1897, removing to Hamlet, Indiana, where he has
since been numbered among its successful practitioners. He married Miss Cloe Fancher, a talented
musician, by whom he has one daughter, Elizabeth. Dr. James L. Denaut is a Republican in his
affairs.” Cloe Fancher was the daughter
of Jonathan Jr. and Margaret (Roe) Fancher.
Her and Dr. DeNaut had three children, M. Elizabeth, James Fancher and
Marjorie M. Dr. James and Cloe (Fancher)
DeNaut are buried in the Crown Point Cemetery in Starke County, IN. The History of
Merced County, California was authored by John Outcalt and was published by
the Historic Record Company in 1925 in Los Angeles, California. In this work you can find a biography for
Clarence L. Fancher and it reads: “An
extensive grain rancher of Merced County, Clarence L. Fancher is a member of a
family well known in the county since the early days of 1850. He was born on a farm, five miles west of
Niles, Mich., on February 11, 1875, the fifth of seven children born to
Jonathan W. and Margaret (Roe) Fancher, the father a native of Syracuse, N. Y.,
born in 1835, and the mother of Indiana, her death occurring in Michigan, in
1905. Jonathan W. Fancher was a cooper
by trade, who settled in Michigan in 1853.
Moving to Indiana in 1885, he became an extensive owner of land and
stock there; and Clarence L., from the early age of ten, took up duties on the
home ranch as chore boy, and remained there until 1899, when he came as far
west as Butte, Mont., and later went into the Bog Horn Basin, Wyo., where he
entered on land under the Carey Act and homestead law, forty miles from the
railway, and for twelve years developed the land, devoting it to grain, sheep
and hogs, with marked success. In the
meantime, his father had come west to Merced, Cal., in 1900, where he had been
preceded by his brothers, the late George H. and Lee R. Fancher, settlers there
in 1850 and prominent figures in Merced banking and farming circles. Jonathan W. had acquired land near Merced,
and came out to look after his interests, and in 1912, Clarence L. brought out
a carload of stock, and has since handled the ranch work and managed the
property. C. L. Fancher’s marriage, on March 27. 1903 in
Wyoming, united him with Miss Lydia A. Lindsay, a native of Utah, and the fifth
of ten children born to her parents, the late Edwin R., and Mrs. Emma Bowden
Lindsay of Big Horn Basin. Sic children
have been born to Mr. and Mrs. Fancher:
Lila, Iras, Arlene, Virginia, Lindsay, and Llewellyn. In 1921, Mr. Fancher entered the Poultry Producers
Association, and he is building up his pens to full capacity, with 1600 hens,
engaging in egg production on a large scale.
He is a member of the Planada Tuttle Farm bureau, and has always
championed modern methods, both in theory and practice, for he sees in
intensive cultivation the real growth of California, and especially her valley
lands. He is likewise interested in
educational advancement, and is a member of the board of school trustees for
the Tuttle district. A Republican in
political adherence, he sponsors all movements which have for their purpose the
ultimate development of the district’s resources, realizing that in that way is
the prosperity of the individual enhanced, in proportion as the country
develops.” A
Standard History of Starke County Indiana was authored by
Joseph N. McCormick and was published in 1915 by the Lewis Publishing Company
of Chicago and New York. On pages 471
and 472 there is a biography of Melvin Hicks Fancher and it read: “Melvin Hicks Fancher There is no better
farms in Starke County than can be found in the vicinity of Hamlet in Davis
Township. It is a picture of comfortable
prosperity, substantial homes, large barns, sleek stock and well filled
fields. When it is revealed that within
the memory of men still in middle age this landscape alternated with woods and
swamps, it is astonishing what a brief generation has accomplished. One such farm that represents the best in
productiveness and general improvements is the Fancher farm in section20. The manager is Melvin H. Fancher, who
operates the 480 acres comprising his father’s homestead and is also the
individual owner of eighty acres lying in section 18. All his own land has been brought into a high
state of cultivation, while 400 acres if the homestead are improved. It is fine land, sandy loam, with clay and
gravel base. Mr. Fancher has had charge
of this farm for seven years, and in the meantime purchased the eighty acres in
section 18. He has broken up a large
acreage, and erected the handsome eight room house which is his residence. One special distinction that belongs to Mr.
Fancher is that he did the first commercial onion growing in this county. His venture was made in 1904. The second year he planted sixteen acres in
that crop and his total yield was 13,000 bushels. On one measured acre, probably the best, he
grew 1,305 bushels of screened onions.
That set a mark for yield per acre that has never been surpassed in this
county. He has kept up his work along
this line until two years ago, and onion growing in the meantime has become one
of the big crops of Starke County. In
later years corn has been a profitable crop with him. A hard worker and thrifty business man, he
neglects no opportunity to make farming both pleasant and profitable, and takes
much pride in his fine stock. Melvin H. Fancher has had his home in this county
and township since 1886. He was born in
Berrien County, Michigan, November 16, 1864, and was reared there on a farm and
had his education from local schools.
Arriving at his majority, the desire for travel and adventure asserted
itself, and he spent four years west of the Mississippi, visiting all the
states and territories and also northern Mexico. At the time the plains were vast unfenced
areas, covered with cattle and buffaloes, and he had many varied and romantic
experiences in roughing it during the days that have now passed forever. On his return he joined his parents at their
home at their home in Starke County, and has since applied himself
industriously to the business of farming and home making. His father, Jonathan W. Fancher, was born near
Syracuse, New York, on October 7, 1836.
When a child he lost his mother and then went to live with an uncle, and
learned the trade of tight-barrel cooper.
At the age of sixteen he found his way to Niles, Michigan, and later
found work at his trade in Buchanan, in the same state, which was his home
until his removal to Starke County in 1884.
While in Buchanan he married Margaret Roe. She was born near South Bend in 1842, and the
last fourteen years of her life were passed as an invalid, until her death in
1907. In spite of her affliction she was
a good wife and mother to her family, and was an active member of the Christian
Church. Jonathan Fancher now spends most
of his time in California, where he has some business interests, chiefly in the
manufacture of various kinds of cement products. After moving to Starke County about thirty
years ago he bought and improved the large farm now operated by his son. Melvin H. Fancher was married in Davis Township to
Miss Leora Pease. She was born in
Illinois in 1871, came with her parents when a small girl to Starke county, and
died here in 1898 without children.
After her death Mr. Fancher was married in Chicago to Miss Minerva J.
Fleming. The marriage ceremony was
performed by Rev. Johnston Myers, the distinguished Baptist minister of that
city. Mrs. Fancher was born in Adams
County, Illinois, September 15, 1869, grew up near Quincy and finished her
education in that city. She is a woman
of exceptional culture. Her home was in
Chicago for several years before her marriage.
She is the mother of four daughters:
Edna, aged thirteen and in eighth grade of school; Grace, aged eleven
and in sixth grade; Leora, aged six; and Julia, aged four. They also have an adopted daughter Ruth, whom
they fostered since she was two years old, and she finished the grade school
course in 1911 and spent one year in high school. Mr. Fancher is a democrat.” Melvin and Minerva J. (Flemming) Fancher are
buried in the Fletcher Cemetery in Starke County, IN The Berrien Springs Journal Era carried an obituary
for Francis B. Fancher on 27 Oct 1933 and it reads: “ FUNERAL RITES MONDAY FOR
FRANCIS B. FANCHER-Funeral service was held Monday afternoon at the home of
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Eidson for Francis B. Fancher, who passed away Friday night
at the Taber sanitarium in Benton Harbor.
Mr. Fancher, who was an uncle of Mrs. Eidson, had been staying at their
home the past summer. Ill for a week he
was taken to the sanitarium two days before his death occurred. Mr. Fancher was born May 30, 1867 and spent
his youth in this vicinity, graduating from the Berrien Springs high school in
1886, the valedictorian of his class.
After graduation from the law department of the University of Michigan
he went to Detroit where he was engaged in business until his retirement. Besides Mrs. Eidson, another niece, Mrs.
Bernard Ganong of Baroda also survives.
There are also several cousins, residing in Berrien Springs, Mrs.
William Storick, Mrs. George Sunday and Misses Mary and Maggie Ewalt. An Uncle Levi R. Fancher, resides in Merced,
Calif. The late Mrs. Lou Dunham of St.
Joseph was a half sister of Mr. Fancher and burial was made beside her grave in
Crystal Springs cemetery, Benton Harbor.
The funeral service was conducted by Rev. A. E. Wright of the Berrien
Springs United Brethren church. The pall
bearers were Walter Storick, Claud and Harold Blackman, Gandville Nye, Lee
Sunday and Kenneth Johnson.” Francis was
the son of Frank B. and Julia A. (Lemon) Fancher and was born after his father
died. |