Born
1868
Birthplace
Franklin Township, Allegheny Co, PA
Died
1941
Death Place
Wexford, Allegheny Co, PA
Vital Information
- Father
- George Ford Jr.
- Mother
- Nancy Neely
- Spouse
- Mary Ann Jones
- Children
- Ruby Irene (Soergel), Viola Marie (Neal), Ralph Edwin, Elsie Gertrude (Soergel), William Davis, Finley Merle, Roy Eugene "Tony", Joseph Lynn, Marion Ruth (Voelker)
Biography
Lewis Davis Ford was born in 1868 in Franklin Township, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, the son of George Ford Jr. and Nancy Neely. He was baptised at Fairmount Presbyterian Church in Sewickley using the name he was always known by - Davis.
Fun Fact
Ruby Ford Soergel (born 1897) remembered that her father, Lewis Davis Ford, was named for Doctor Lewis E. Davis but she was unaware of the fact that it was her ancestor's farm on which Doctor Davis built his famous house. Ruby Ford Soergel recalled her father telling her about Aunt Martha, Aunt Let (Lettitia), and Uncle John, his half sisters and brother. Ruby also said her grandmother Nancy Ford, like her grandfather George, had been married before they married each other. Nancy Ford's first husband was Mr. Holman and together they had three sons: James, Joseph, and Albert. As a result, according to Ruby Ford Soergel, the Ford family is widespread and complicated.
Calling the Ford family large is an understatement: Davis had eight half-siblings from his father's first marriage to Mary Lettitia (Letty) Neely, plus three full siblings from his father's subsequent marriage to the widowed Nancy Neely Holeman, who had three children of her own. Letty and Nancy were first cousins, both grandchildren of Samuel Neely and his wife, Elizabeth.
This may not be the first time you saw the Holman name on this website. Joseph Holman Jr, Nancy Neely's first husband, was the grandson of Thomas Holman Jr and grand-nephew of Catherine Holman Jones (who married William Jones Sr, builder of the Jones-Neely Log House). Joseph Holman Jr's great grandfather was Thomas Holman Sr, the Revolutionary War veteran who trekked to Western PA from New Jersey with his wife and two children.
Davis married Mary Ann Jones on May 7, 1891, and their first child, Ralph, arrived almost exactly one year later. Nine more children followed, including one girl that sadly died at birth. These children were almost certainly born on the farm and were likely delivered by either a midwife or by Dr. Lewis Davis, who was the local physician. At the time, a midwife would have charged $2, whereas a doctor assisting with a birth would charge in the neighborhood of $10.
Lewis Davis Ford died of cancer in 1941 in Wexford, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. His profession was listed as "janitor" on the death certificate and he is buried in Franklin Park Baptist Cemetery alongside Mary Ann.
Additional information
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