Failor, Benjamin, M.D.

FAILOR, MOYER, MYERS, MITCHELL, WINN, LYDAY, FULLERTON, COOK, PICKING

Posted By: Volunteer Transcriber
Date: 8/12/2009 at 14:09:27

Benjamin M. Failor, M.D., of Newton, I was born in Bucyrus, Crawford County, Ohio, February 21, 1831, and is a son of Andrew and Elizabeth (Moyer) Failor. His father was born in Mifflin Township, Cumberland County, Pa., March 17, 1799, and was the Son of Andrew Failor, Sr., a native of the same locality in the Keystone State. The great-grandfather of our subject was born on the Rhine, either in France or Switzerland, and immigrated to America about 1760, settling in Cumberland County, Pa., where he remained until death. The family adheres to the Lutheran faith and has been identified principally with the farming class.

Andrew Failor, Jr., Was a man of liberal education and a civil engineer by profession, in which capacity he was in the employ of the Government. For fourteen years he was an Associate Judge in Crawford County, Ohio, where his death occurred in 1849. He had married Miss Elizabeth, daughter of Abraham Moyer, who was born in Pennsylvania, July 4, 1776, and whose father, Samuel, was a soldier in the Revolutionary War under General Washington, serving with that famous general in various campaigns, and with him spending the memorable winter at Valley Forge. The Moyer family originated in Holland, and came to America with the Mennonite Colony about 1711, settling in York County, Pa. They became one of the wealthiest and most influential families in the Keystone State.

The mother of our subject was born in Pennsylvania in 1800. She had two brothers, George and Samuel, the former of whom retained the name of Moyer, while the latter changed his to Myers. This act greatly offended the father, Abraham Moyer, who, in speaking of the matter, would say, "Myers! Myers! That is a Yankee name. I am a Dutchman, and my name is Abraham Moyer, and if that is good enough for me, it is good enough for my 'poy.'" George Moyer joined Joseph Smith, the noted Mormon leader, and but little is known of his subsequent history, except that he died in that faith; his descendants are Mormons and live in Salt Lake City. Another brother of our subject's mother, A. H., was a Lutheran minister, and was the first preacher of that faith in San Francisco, Cal.

Longevity has been a characteristic of the Moyer family. Abraham Moyer lived to be eighty, and would no doubt have lived much longer had it not been for an accident that caused his death. A sister of his lived to be one hundred and four years old. The mother of our subject attained ninety years, but at that age she fell and broke her hip, dying from the effects of the injury. One of her brothers was thrown from a stage when a very old man, breaking his neck. It became a common saying that none of the Moyers died until they were killed. They were principally Lutherans in religious belief, and for more than a century were members of the General Synod of the English Lutheran Church.

The Doctor had three brothers and four sisters. Andrew, the eldest, is living in Newton, at seventy-one years of age (1893). A. Jefferson died in 1864, aged forty years, leaving four sons and one daughter. Margaret J. married J. F. Mitchell, and died leaving one daughter, who is now the wife of Robert Winn, of Newton. Samuel, a resident of Kellogg, is a tinner by trade, and has a family of five sons. Mary married J. H. Lyday, late President of the First National Bank of Newton; she has three sons and two daughters, and has continued to reside in Newton since the death of her husband, one of her sons being Cashier of the First National Bank. Elizabeth married D. L. Fullerton, a wealthy hardware merchant of Augusta, Ga. Celia is the wife of the Rev. H. S. Cook, a prominent Lutheran minister residing in Waynesboro, Pa.; they are the parents of two daughters and one son.

Prior to the age of sixteen years, the subject of this sketch attended school at Bucyrus, Ohio, at which time he entered Wittenberg College, in Springfield, Ohio. It was his father's desire to have him become a preacher, but that profession not suiting his taste, he left the college after two years of study. Proceeding to Indianapolis, he secured a position as clerk in a drug store, where he remained for eighteen months. His leisure hours were devoted to the study of medicine, after which he studied for a time in Bucyrus, Ohio. Later he entered Jefferson Medical College, of Philadelphia, and was graduated from that institution in 1855.

Returning to Bucyrus in May 1855, the young Doctor married Miss Sarah J. Picking, a native of Adams County, Pa., and a high school graduate. Her father, Samuel Picking, at the time of her marriage was a hotelkeeper in Bucyrus. Two of her brothers, Daniel and John, became very wealthy hardware merchants. At once after his marriage, Doctor Failor hung out his shingle in Bucyrus, where he remained until the opening of the Civil War. On the 3rd of October 1861, he received the appointment of Surgeon of the Nineteenth Ohio Infantry, and was for some time on detached duty in the hospitals at Murfreesboro and in No.1 at Nashville, Tenn. He served as Division Field Surgeon at the battles of Stone River, Murfreesboro and Chickamauga, an in the winter of 1863-64 came home on a furlough. Upon his return to the army, he was, March 10, 1864, placed m charge of the Division Hospital of the Atlanta campaign, and served until April 1, 1865. During his long service he ministered to thousands of sick and wounded soldiers, and his work for humanity and his country cannot be overestimated.

After his return from the army, Doctor Failor came to Newton, Iowa, where he bas since continuously engaged in the practice of his chosen profession. He is a member of the Capital District Medical Society, the Des Moines Valley and Iowa State Medical Societies, and is now Secretary of the Pension Board. From 1866 until 1885 he was Examining Surgeon for the Government, and was again appointed to that position in 1889. Socially, he is a Mason and a Knight Templar. He is Commander of the Grand Army post at Newton, and is also its surgeon. At this writing he is Medical Director of the Grand Army Department of the State.

In politics the Doctor belongs to a Democratic family, but he early in life became a Whig, and upon the organization of the Republican Party became identified with its platform and principles, which he still supports. He has but one child, Anna, a talented lady, and one of the finest musicians of Iowa. She was educated at Hazel Dell Academy and in a private school. She is the wife Ottis Grandstaff, of Burlington, where she resides and where she is organist of the First Presbyterian Church, as well as Secretary and Treasurer of the Iowa State Musical Association. Portrait and Biographical Record, Jasper, Marshall and Grundy Counties, IA Page 277.