Francis Fox

biography

FRANCIS FOX, a successful contractor and builder of Meadville, was born August 13, 1834, in Bennhousen, Palatinate of Bavaria. He is a son of Francis and Katherine (Hauri) Fox, and with them came to this country in 1846. The father was engaged in the retail meat business in Meadville for some years. He died in September, 1864, and three years later the mother passed away. When seventeen years of age our subject started out to make his own way in the world, and, having learned the carpenter’s trade, he went to the west, at two different times, finally returning to Meadville in 1864, to make his permanent home here. Since that time he has been occupied in building and contracting and architecture, and has acquired an excellent reputation for the fidelity and promptness with which he carries out his contracts. Among the many large and fine buildings which he has erected in this city are the High School, the Academy of Music and several churches. When the Erie Railroad shops were being built here, he was appointed to superintend their construction, and successfully completed the work. The marriage of Mr. Fox and Teresa M. Coulter, a daughter of Barnard Coulter, of Venango county, and of Irish descent, was solemnized January 24, 1865 Mrs. Fox died in September 1875, and of their five children three are still living, namely: Robert . Charles J. and Harriet B. The present wife of our subject was formerly Miss Ella Donnelly, a daughter of Professor John R. Donnelly of this county. She was a prominent teacher for years. Mr. Fox has taken an active part in general and local politics. In 1876 he joined the Greenback party and voted for Peter Cooper for president. In 1877 he, with others, established and published the People’s Advocate, a weekly paper advocating the principles of the Greenback party. In 1878 he contributed largely by speech and general effort in the work. in which year the Greenback party polled three thousand five hundred votes in Crawford county, and as long ago as 1866 he served as a member of the city council. In 1892 he was honored by being elected to the select council, and served six years in that honorable body, and contributed largely in securing the municipal ownership of the water-works.

Our county and its people: a historical and memorial record of Crawford County, Pennsylvania by Samuel P. Bates, 1899, pages 683-684.