William and Jane Emmons Fedderly log home in Rock Elm Townsip, circa 1889
- circa 1889
Index card states the man in the image is wearing the same suit as in the other Fedderly home photograph. William O. Fedderly was born in New York State in 1838. He came to Rock Elm in 1873 and settled on Section 11. He was a farmer by trade, but he also developed a considerable trade in buying and selling ginseng. In 1883 he reportedly purchased almost 7,000 pounds, and paid out more than $4,000. Reportedly, he was also one of the first Rock Elm farmers to raise blooded Holstein cattle. By 1895, the Pierce County Plat Book lists W.O. Fedderly as a dealer in ginseng, hides, fur and pelts. One of the people in the picture is Birdie Potter whose mother Jennie Fedderly Potter died young. Birdie was raised by her grandparents. W. O. Fedderly's wife was Jane Emmons who was born in New York in 1817 and died in 1890.
Smith, Charles Francis