Mercer County PAGenWeb

Benjamin F. Budd 


BENJAMIN F. BUDD, contractor and builder, of Sharon, Mercer county, of a well known family of this part of the state, is a native of Trumbull county, Ohio, horn September 25, 1856. a son of  Edward Scofield and Mary (Wilson) Budd. The father was born in Sharon, 1809, and died aged seventy-eight years. The mother was born in Brookfield township, Trumbull county, Ohio. December 3, 1813. and died at the extreme age of ninety-three years, in November, 1906, being the oldest person in Sharon at the date of her decease. In every sense of the word she was a true Christian-a loving mother, a kind and helpful neighbor and a spiritual-minded woman. The deceased was the daughter of  James Wilson,  long since gone to his reward. Mrs. Budd was married in Trumbull county, Ohio, in 1829, and when a very small girl, became a member of the Baptist church, in which she ever took much interest.  Edward S. Budd and wife were the parents of twelve children, including  James D.; Edward W.; Nettie E. (wife of  John Seny), and  Benjamin F., of this memoir, who was the twelfth in order of birth.

William Budd, the grandfather, was a farmer and cultivated the land where now stands the borough of Sharon. His son, father of Benjamin F., was also a farmer of Mercer county, who resided in Hickory Creek township. but later moved to Trumbull county. Ohio. After engaging mans' years at agricultural pursuits in the localities already named, he moved to Missouri, where he farmed seven years longer. While in Missouri, and while Benjamin B. was a small boy, the father was compelled to fight the "bushwhackers" of Civil war times. Mr. Budd finally returned to Mercer county, locating at Sharon, where he was a justice of the peace for many years and did some farming, but during the last few years of his life he was retired. He was a member of the Baptist church and one of its local organizers. Originally voting the Whig ticket, when the Republican party was formed he identified himself with that organization.

Benjamin F. Budd was educated in the public schools and learned the carpenter's trade, after which he took contracts for buildings and now enjoys a large business in this line. Mr. Budd is a member of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks, Lodge No. 103, Sharon; the Protected Home Circle, Lodge No. 1; and Knights of Pythias No. 294. He has served in the borough council, having been first elected to membership in 1907, and has been president of the borough fire department for twenty-five years. In church relations he is connected with the Methodist Episcopal denomination.

Mr. Budd was united in marriage, January 31, 1894. to Jennie Rapp, born in Mercer county, Pennsylvania, March 15, 1874, daughter of Charles and Hannah (Foster) Rapp. Her father was born east of the mountains, in Pennsylvania, October 8, 1823, while his wife was born in Mercer county, September 11, 1836, and married in her native county in 1852. They became the parents of twelve children, six of whom survive: Frank; Ida, wife of William Cray; Tina, Mrs. Walter Sandy; Kate, widow of Alton Cone; Jennie (Mrs. Budd), the eleventh child, and Ernest L., who married Kate Moore. The father of Mrs. Budd was by trade a blacksmith, having learned that trade at Sharpsville and followed it for thirty-five years. He was one of the oldest members of the Odd Fellows lodge, at Sharpsville. Politically, he was a Republican. Mr. and Mrs. Budd are the parents of one son - George Winfred.


Source: (Twentieth Century History of Mercer County, 1909, pages 589-590)


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