Transcribed from "An Illustrated History of The
Big Bend Country, embracing Lincoln, Douglas, Adams and Franklin counties,
State of Washington", published by Western Historical Publishing
Co., 1904.
JOHN A. FAULK was born on January
6, 1850, in Perry county, Pennsylvania, which county was also the life-long
home of both his father and mother, John and Mary (Souder) Faulk.
Mr. Faulk, the subject of this sketch, now lives on a farm two and one
half miles southwest of Davenport. His brothers and sisters are,
Phillip, Amos, Harry C., Mrs. Mary Wallace, Mrs. Matilda Gutshall, and
Mrs. Elizabeth Henderson.
At the age of sixteen
Mr. Faulk came to Union county, Iowa, where he worked on a farm and in
saw mills. He was married on July 13, 1876, to Lydia A. Mewhirter,
a native of Van Wert county, Ohio, born November 6, 1853. Her father, James
Mewhirter, was a native of Pennsylvania, and son of James Mewhirter, born
in Ireland and a soldier in the War of 18l2. Mrs. Faulk's mother
was Sarah J. (Harter) Mewhirter, of Ohio birth. The brothers and
sisters of Mrs. Faulk are, Adam, Daniel. Mrs. Mary Willis, Mrs. Helen
Smith, Brough, Mrs. Jennie Buck, Mrs. Dora McDonald, Marvin, and Mrs. Iva
Eason.
Mrs. Faulk at the age
of eight years migrated with her parents to Union county, Iowa, and was
there during the Civil War. Although her father was disqualified
for army service he devoted himself to providing for the widows and orphans
and families of the soldiers of his county, who had gone to the front.
He died at Creston, Iowa, in 1895. The mother of Mrs. Faulk came
to Adams county, Washington, in 1900, and is there still living.
In 1884, Mr. and Mrs.
Faulk removed to Lyons county, Kansas, and two years later to Adams
county, this state, where Mr. Faulk filed a homestead a few miles northwest
of Ritzville. They arrived there without means upon which to live
pending their first grain harvest, so, after erecting a cabin on his claim,
Mr. Faulk went to the Walla Walla country and worked in the harvest fields.
While getting a start here they endured many trials and hardships, and
finally, in 1897, they sold out their interests and came to Lincoln county,
and the following spring purchased an unimproved quarter section of land
where they now live. Most of their land is suitable to the culture
of grain, and is all well improved and in tillage. They have all
up-to-date improvements, and are in comfortable and prosperous circumstances.
Mrs. Faulk is a member
of the Maccabees, and both are affiliated with the Loyal Americans fraternity
and the Methodist Episcopal church.
The children born to
Mr. and Mrs. Faulk are: Orla W., deceased; Carris, wife of Doctor W. C.
Graham, a Davenport dentist; and Charles Marvin. Mrs. Graham is a
woman of excellent educational attainments, and for a number of years was
a school mistress in Adams county.