Brief Life History of John Ferguson
When John Ferguson Harper was born in May 1882, in Shamokin, Northumberland, Pennsylvania, United States, his father, William Harper, was 40 and his mother, Elizabeth Crow, was 34. He married Hazel May Leaverton on 26 October 1908, in Des Moines, Polk, Iowa, United States. They were the parents of at least 1 son and 1 daughter. He lived in Boone, Boone, Iowa, United States for about 15 years and Des Moines Township, Boone, Iowa, United States for about 10 years. He died on 19 September 1960, in Boone, Iowa, United States, at the age of 78, and was buried in Linwood Cemetery, Iowa, Iowa, United States.
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Family Time Line
Sources (17)
- John F Hooper, "United States Census, 1940"
- John F. Harper, "Iowa, County Marriages, 1838-1934"
- John Ferguson Harper, "United States World War II Draft Registration Cards, 1942"
Spouse and Children
Parents and Siblings
Siblings (9)
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World Events (8)
1884 · There is now a Capital Building
The capitol building in Des Moines originally had a budget of $1,500,000 but complications arose because of the need of a redesign. The building was dedicated on January 17, 1884, but it wasn’t completed until 1886. On January 4, 1904, a fire started and swept through the areas that housed the Supreme Court and Iowa House of Representatives. A major restoration was performed and documented, with the addition of electrical lighting, elevators, and a telephone system. By the early 1980s, the sandstone exterior of the Capitol had started deteriorating and prompted the installation of canopies to protect pedestrians from falling rubble. The entire reconstruction process took around 18 years to complete.
1886
Statue of Liberty is dedicated.
1903 · Department of Commerce and Labor
A short-lived Cabinet department which was concerned with controlling the excesses of big business. Later being split and the Secretary of Commerce and Labor splitting into two separate positions.
Name Meaning
English (Staffordshire), Scottish, Irish (Antrim and Down), and Dutch: occupational name for a player on the harp, from Middle English harper(e) ‘harper’ (Old English hearpere) and Middle Dutch harper, herper. The harper was one of the most important figures of a medieval baronial hall, especially in Scotland and northern England, and the office of harper was sometimes hereditary. The Scottish surname is probably an Anglicized form of Gaelic Mac Chruiteir ‘son of the harper’ (from Gaelic cruit ‘harp’, ‘stringed instrument’). This surname has long been present in Ireland.
Dictionary of American Family Names © Patrick Hanks 2003, 2006.
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