Ira Ferguson is a successful and honorable man who has dedicated himself to a fixed purpose and faithfulness to duty. Born on August 25, 1880, in Lore City, Guernsey County, to a prominent farming family, he spent his childhood and youth on his father’s farm and attended schools in the Liberty District. After working in New York and Pennsylvania, he returned home, married Emma Mendenhall, and opened a hardware store in Lore City. He was appointed postmaster of Lore City in 1908, and according to popular opinion, he was one of the best postmasters the town has ever had. He is a member of the Masonic Order, and his wife is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Order of the Eastern Star.
Faithfulness to duty and a strict adherence to a fixed purpose, which always do more to advance a man’s interests than wealth or advantageous circumstances, have been dominating factors in the life of Ira Ferguson, of Lore City, Wills Township, Guernsey County. His career, though brief, he being yet a young man, has been replete with honor and success worthily attained.
Mr. Ferguson was born on August 25, 1880, on a farm one and one-half miles southeast of Lore City, in Liberty Township, this County, and he is the son of Andrew C. and Eveline (Saltsgaver) Ferguson. Both parents were born in Senecaville, this County, the mother being the daughter of William Saltsgaver, of that place, a man prominent and wealthy in lands and other interests. The Fergusons are of Scotch-Irish descent, and a pioneer family in the county.
The father, Andrew C. Ferguson, is a prominent farmer and large landowner of Richland Township, Guernsey County, and he is prominent in the affairs of the locality. He and his wife are still living and are highly honored by a wide circle of friends.
Ira Ferguson, of this review, spent his childhood and youth on his father’s farm, and his early education was obtained in the schools of Liberty District, Liberty Township, where he remained until he was twenty years of age, when he left home and went to New York City, and was employed with a company manufacturing ice machines for one year, then returned to the home farm on account of sickness.
After his recovery, he went to New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and was again employed by a company in the manufacture of ice machines, remaining with the same about a year. He returned home again, and on February 7, 1903, he was united in marriage with Emma Mendenhall, daughter of Thomas S. and Martha (Gardner) Mendenhall, of Salesville, this County. Mr. Mendenhall was a prominent stock buyer and shipper, and his death occurred in December 1902; his widow is living at Salesville. One child has been born to Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson, Margaret Blanche.
After his marriage, Mr. Ferguson went to Rochester, Pennsylvania, and engaged in the restaurant business but returned to Lore City, Ohio, in less than a year and opened a hardware store here. He continued in that line successfully until he was appointed postmaster of Lore City, on March 10, 1908, when he retired from the hardware business and devoted his exclusive attention to the post office, making, according to the consensus of opinion, one of the best postmasters the town has ever had. The office has three rural routes and is a distributing point for several different places.
Politically, Mr. Ferguson is a Republican and is loyal to the same, and he has been active in political matters and has been a frequent delegate to Republican conventions and active in the interests and success of the party, yet always tolerant to men of different opinions. He is a member of the Masonic Order, Pleasant City Lodge, and the York Rite at Cambridge and the Scottish Rite at Columbus, Ohio, being well known and active in this fraternity. Mrs. Ferguson is an active member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Mr. Ferguson affiliates with the same.
Mrs. Ferguson is a splendid woman, and, like her husband, is prominent in the social life of this community, numbering her friends by the limits of her acquaintance only. She is a member of the Order of the Eastern Star, the women’s auxiliary of Masonry.