Edward "Beaver" Ferrell, a grandson of Oak "Festus"
Ferrell surveys what remains of the old homestead ...
... which was built in the early 1900s...
By Bob Weaver
The Oak Festus Ferrell homestead is barely holding forth at the head of Leafbank, a short distance off State Rt. 5 near Grantsville.
The family originally built a log cabin which burned down before 1900, then building this large two-story structure on about 300 acres in the early 20th century.
Oak Festus Ferrell (1875-1941) married Clara Norman (1885-1972) in 1903, having at least eight children, Nellie, Stella, Earl, Geraldine, Glen, Carl, Ray and Cleo.
The elder Ferrells are buried in Bethlehem Cemetery.
Oak was the son of James A. and Cornelia Fluharty Ferrell.
Still living nearby is the grandson of Oak Festus Ferrell, Edward "Beaver" Ferrell (right) and his wife Deborah Underwood Ferrell, who recalled the busy times at the old homestead.
Ferrell, who never met his grandfather, said they lived in a time of "planting, digging and hoeing" in order to survive.
An old ledger shows that area men worked as field hands on the farm, often paying them with produce.
Steep, triangulated, narrow steps leads to the second floor
and remnants of the mantled fireplace now partially collapsing
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