Lewis Fagin (1806 - 1879)

Born 16 Jul 1806 in Clermont, Ohio, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Mary (Davis) Fagin — married 7 Oct 1825 in Clermont, Ohio, United States

Descendants

Died 8 May 1879 at age 72 in Avondale, Cincinnati, Hamilton, Ohio, United States

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Biography

Lewis was born in 1806. He was the son of Joseph Fagin and Rachel Gray. He passed away in 1879.

Lewis' entry in Descendants of Patrick Fagin, page 44:

(32) Lewis Fagin (1806-1879) second son of Joseph Fagin/Rachel Gray, b. in Clermont Co., Ohio July 16, 1806. Married 1) Mary Davis (1807-1837) in 10 Mile Baptist Church Oct. 7, 1825. Mary Davis was born in Lancashire, England May 10, 1807 and came to America with her parents Robert and Eleanor Davis of New Richmond, Ohio. Her brother Robert Davis was one of the pioneer steamboat pilots on the Ohio River. She died May 14, 1837 at Fulton (now part of Cincinnati). In 1830 Lewis was trustee, New Richmond.

From 1825 to 1835 Lewis Fagin operated a tannery and sawmill owned by his father near New Richmond, and supplied lumber for the pioneer boat-building industry developing in the region. He was later a steamboat captain on the Ohio River; his first boat was the "William Wallace" which he built; he later captained the "Tarquin" and the "Atlanta" carrying trade for the A.W. Fagin Co. and other New Richmond traders.

After Mary Fagin's death, he married (Apr 10, 1838) Ruth Terry Morgan, daughter of his business associate Bela Morgan (1789-1862) and Triphenia Terry, natives of New England. Bela Morgan had been (1825) Justice of the Peace in Millcreek Township (Cincinnati).

In 1838 Lewis Fagin built a flour mill on the newly finished "Old Miami Canal" facing Lock St. at the foot of Mt. Adams in Cincinnati. The canal, famous as "The Rhine" in Cincinnati history because it separated the early German community from downtown, was part of the extensive Erie Canal System; it is now replace by Central Parkway and Eggleston Ave. , where Fagin's Mill was located. The mill of Lewis Fagin & Sons was at first water powered; steam was installed after a fire in 1840, and the plant was expanded in 1852 and 1856. The 7 story warehouse built in 1856 was said to be "the first seven story building west of the Alleghenies". In 1866 Lewis Fagin leased the mill to his sons and built a second mill on the Passaic River in Newark, N.J., which in the general business decline following the Civil War was unsuccessful. He sold the Passaic mill and returned to Cincinnati, retiring in 1872. The Cincinnati mill continued in operation successfully until 1884, with the death of his son, Joseph H. Fagin.

A member of Cincinnati Pioneers, Lewis Fagin's biography was recorded by that association, and also in Joblin: "Cincinnati Past and Present", published in 1872, which contains his portrait (p.275-6). He died May 7, 1894.

Children of Lewis Fagin/Mary Davis:

(321) Theodore, b. 1826;

(322) Joseph H., b. 1828;

(323) Lewis Fagin, Jr., b. 1837;

Robert, b. 1830;

Burton, b. after 1830.

Children of Lewis Fagin/Ruth T. Morgan:

Mary M., b. 1840;

(324) Morgan H., b. 1843;

(325) Hiram D., b. 1845;

Eliza S., b. 1848;

Carolyn M., b. 1856.

Sources

Descendants of Patrick Fagin by the Fagin Family Association, Felicity, Ohio: Multilith Printing, L. G. Heavenrich, 1967. Page 44.

Find-A-Grave Memorial no. 78927027 database and images accessed, 22 July 2019 : Lewis Fagin (16 Jul 1806–8 May 1879), citing Spring Grove Cemetery, Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio, USA ; Maintained by Find A Grave (contributor 8).