Ebenezer Felton    

EBENEZER FELTON, deceased, came to Meadville, Penn., about 1805, adopting the profession of surveyor. In 1829 he bought land and cleared one of the first farms in Athens Township, this county, and, with James Drake, built and operated the first saw-mill, grist-mill and carding-machine in this township. Mr. Felton at one time was supposed to own 9,000 acres of real estate in this and adjoining counties. He established the fortunes of many of the early pioneers by allowing them to work for him and giving them land in exchange for their services. He was of a too generous disposition and others over-reached him in business transactions until he had finally to relinquish all his immense estate. He held various local offices, having been County Surveyor for twenty-five years. He never married. He died about 1850, at the residence of Eliva Barton, Meadville. Mr. Felton rendered invaluable services in developing Athens and surrounding portions of this county, and it is but just that his memory be preserved and that his name should go down to posterity.

History of Crawford County, Pennsylvania: containing a history of the county, its townships, towns, villages, schools, churches, industries, etc., portraits of early settlers and prominent men, biographies, history of Pennsylvania, statistical and miscellaneous matter, Chicago: Warner, Beers & Co., 1885, page 780. View image of this page of the book on line at ancestry.com.  Free Trial  More Crawford County History Books  Search Hundreds of 1880s-1890s Pennsylvania County History Books for biographies and historical information on your ancestors.  View the book page images on line and print them out for your genealogy file!  Free Access to the old history books - plus birth & death records, census images and ALL other records at ancestry.com

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