FERGUSON, Isabella Jane (Cummings) 1835-1921

FERGUSON, CUMMINGS, NOBLE

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 4/5/2014 at 23:52:26

[Waterloo Evening Courier, Thursday, April 14, 1921, Waterloo, Iowa]

The funeral of Mrs. Isabella Jane Ferguson, age 85, venerable and widely known pioneer woman of Black Hawk county, who died at her home, 154 Harrison Street, Wednesday, will be at Grace M.E. Church at 2:30 pm. tomorrow, Rev. E. J. Lockwood, pastor, will officiate. burial will be in Fairview. The body is at Pe?? Bros. undertaking parlors where it may be viewed this afternoon and evening. It will be returned to the family home at 9 am tomorrow.

Isabella Jane Cummings was born Aug. 20, 1835 at Granville, ??, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Stephen Cummings. She was married there to Edward Ferguson in 1859. The couple came to Iowa after the Civil War. They settled on a farm in Bennington township in 1866, where Mrs. Ferguson lived for 27 years and reared her family of five sons and one daugther.

Her husband died Nov. 5, 1876, when the oldest son was but [15?]* years of age.

The family came to Waterloo in ???3 and Mrs. Ferguson had resided practically ever since at the Harrison Street home. Her sons founded the Ferguson Manufacturing company, makers of well drilling machinery here in 1906.

Mrs. Ferguson was an active member of the Grace M. E. church, attending all the years of her residence here until confined to her home by illness about a year ago. She had been confined to bed however, for but a few days. Death was due to old age and complications.

Surviving are four sons, George, Stephen, Albert R., and Charles A., all of Waterloo; and one daughter, Mrs. Iona F. Noble, Manitou, Colo.; and one brother, Robert Cummings, Los Angeles, Cal. There also survive 11 grandchildren and one great-grandchild. One son, Robert, was fatally injured by a fall from a windmill in 1919, dying afterwards in St. Francis Hospital.

All of the children were at her bedside during her last illness.

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Areas of this obit were in the seam of the page and blackened, thus unreadable.
* 15 years of age would be from his own obit which said he was born in Jan 1861.