Edward Faul (1827-1895)

Now that I have done a couple stories about my ancestors I will get back to a few from my wife's line. Today's blog will be about Edward Faul, my wife's 3rd great-grandfather. He is another great explorer in the family, travelling from Ireland as a young man and eventually settling in Oregon.

Edward Faul, the son of William (1805-1893) and Margaret Faul (1807-1883), was born 25 December 1827. He grew up in Ballywillin, Antrim, Ireland where he was the oldest of at least nine children. His siblings, as far as we have found, were William (b. ~1828), Alexander (b. ~1830), Margaret Jane (b. ~1832), Catherine (1833-1834 age 11 months), Archibald (b. ~1836), Robert (b. ~1839), Daniel, and Mary Anne.

Edward arrived in New York on 24 October 1853 aboard the ship Manchester. After arriving in the United States he settled in Connecticut. His naturalization papers indicate that he was naturalized on 23 October 1856. He gave his residence as New Canaan, Connecticut and his birth place as Ireland. In the 1860 US Census he is living in Darien, Farifield County, Connecticut. He is there with his wife Fanny (age 21), two daughters; Ida (age 5) and Ella (age 6 months), and Darias Waterbury, a farmer. Edward's occupation is listed as shoemaker and he had $500 in personal value. His wife Fanny was born in Connecticut.

Connecticut Regiments

On 25 April 1861 Edward enlisted in Company F, 3rd Regiment, Connecticut Infantry to fight in the Civil War. Company F consisted of men from Fairfield County. The unit camped in the Hartford fair grounds before being mustered into service on 14 May, departing by rail for New Haven on 23 May, receiving their colors and then traveling aboard the steamer Cahawba for Washington, D.C. Once they arrived in Washington they set up camp at Glenwood along with the 1st and 2nd Connecticut Regiments and provided for the defense of Washington until 1 June. The three Regiments marched on Virginia and encamped at Falls Church and joined the Army of the Potomac, performing picket duty until 16 July. From 16 July until 21 July the Regiment advanced to Manassas, Virginia and occupied Fairfax Court House on 17 July. The unit's first and only real battle experience came on 21 July at Bull Run. This battle was the first major land battle between the Union and Confederate armies in Virginia. The battle is described by Colonel Keyes as follows, "At about two o'clock P. M., General Tyler ordered me to take a battery on a height in front. The battery was strongly posted and supported by infantry and riflemen, sheltered by a building, a fence, and a hedge.  My order to charge was obeyed with the utmost promptness. Colonel Jameson of the Second Maine, and Colonel Chatfield of the Third Connecticut Volunteers, pressed forward their regiments up the base of the slope about one hundred yards, when I ordered them to lie down, at a point offering a small protection, and load. I then ordered them to advance again, which they did, in the face of a movable battery of eight pieces and a large body of infantry, toward the top of the hill. As we moved forward, we came under the fire of other large bodies of the enemy, posted behind breastworks, and on reaching the top of the hill the firing became so hot that an exposure to it of five minutes would have annihilated my whole line.....The gallantry with which the Second Regiment of Maine, and the Third Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers, charged up the hill upon the enemy's artillery and infantry was never, in my judgment, surpassed."

This battle was a rout by the Confederate army and by late afternoon the Union forces were in full retreat back to Washington. By the evening of 21 July the 3rd Regiment had made it back to the camp they had left earlier that morning. The next day they were ordered to continue on to Falls Church and then to Washington. During the next two days the unit was busily engaged in saving camp and garrison equipment and stores that had been abandoned by other units. Company F had experienced the following casualties during the Battle of Bull Run: 0 killed, 1 MIA, 1 wounded, 5 captured, and 2 disabled. The regiment was mustered out of service on 12 August 1861.

After his short service in the Civil War, Edward returned home to Darien and took up the occupation of farming. By the 1870 US Census, Edward had amassed $1,500 in land and had $200 in personal value. His wife Fanny (age 31), and daughters Ida (age 15) and Ella (age 9) are listed in the home and are attending school. Edward is listed as 42 years old. On 10 July 1874, his daughter Ida died after a seven week long bout with typhoid fever. She was 19 years old and had been working as a teacher at the Ox Ridge school in Darien, Connecticut.

Hillside School (1877-1966)

Sometime in the 1870s Edward decided to travel west to Oregon. It would have taken 4 to 6 weeks to make this journey at that time. By 1877, Edward Faul had acquired extensive acreage within the Gales Creek, Washington County, Oregon community. The Faul's are known to have raised goats on their farm. One acre of the farm was donated to the school district for the construction of a 20'x20' frame building to be used as a school house. One of the Faul's neighbors, Mr. Clapshaw was hired to construct the building. Each day two students would carry water from either the Faul or Clapshaw wells to the school house. In 1889 the school house was moved to its present location on land that was rented from the Fauls for $1/year for 100 years. The school closed in 1966 when they consolidated with Forest Grove. The highest attendance for the school was 40 students. Today this school is kept as a free museum displaying the history of the area's early settlers and the school.

Headstone of Edward & Fanny Faul

In the 1880 US Census, Edward (age 52), his wife Fanny (age 41) and daughter Ella (age 19) were still located in Gales Creek, Washington County, Oregon. Edward is listed as a farmer in this census.

On 22 November 1895, Edward was working with a very uncooperative colt when, due to exhaustion and frustration, he suffered a heart attack and died. He is buried, along with his wife Fanny, in Hillside Cemetery, Forest Grove, Washington County, Oregon. The headstone reads. "We will meet again." On the other side, under Fanny's name, are etched the words, "Reunion after many a lonely year." His daughter, Ella, married Sylvester Perry Reeder, the son of Corydon Bloomfield Reeder who was a subject of my story previously.