JACOB FAITH

From the 1887 History of Vernon County, Missouri, p. 866

Jacob Faith

(Nurseryman and Fruit Grower, Section 5, Post-office, Montevallo)

   Jacob  Faith, one of Vernon County’s substantial, representatives citizens, and a man whose influence has been widely felt throughout this community, was born in Germany, May 3, 1836, and is the son of Jacob and Elizabeth Faith, both natives of Germany.  When he was five years old, in 1841, his parents emigrated to the United States and settled in Lee county Iowa.  The father was a farmer and devoted himself to agricultural pursuits, which he followed until his death in 1871.  He left ten children, of whom Jacob, the eldest, was reared to farm life, also learning the trade of cooper; he received in youth a good practical education both in the English and German languages.  In 1859 he removed to Adair county, Mo., and having acquired a taste for horticulture, he commenced in 1860 to turn his attention in that direction, and since that time the nursery and fruit growing industry has not only been greatly advanced by his knowledge and experience in this section, but his name is familiar to the readers of all the leading agricultural and horticultural journals of the country; particularly is Coleman’s Rural World a recipient of many communications from his pen.  In 1875 he came to Vernon county and engaged extensively in his present business.  Of 140 acres in his homestead fifty acres are devoted to an orchard and nursery and the raising of small fruit.  In this enterprise he has met with well merited success.  Among his stock are found sixty varieties of apples, fifty of plums, thirty of peaches, seventy-two varieties of strawberries, twenty-six of raspberries, etc., etc.  He is a member of the State Horticultural Society, and has taken an active interest in promoting the success of its meetings.  Mr. Faith possesses to an eminent degree the rare faculty of maintaining his own convictions even to the discomfiture of his opponents, without exciting their animosity.  This accounts for the fact that although firm in his opinions, fearless, open and able in advocacy of them, he has made during his career but few if any personal enemies, and has surrounded himself with many friends.  And after the many years devoted to his adopted calling he has the satisfaction of knowing that if not blessed with a large fortune in the way of earthly possessions, he is enviably rich in the esteem of a host of fellow-citizens and a consciousness of a character of unimpeachable integrity.  He has for years been an active worker in the Sabbath-school and Temperance cause, and his influence is always on the side of morality and right.

     He was married in 1861, to Miss Mahala Cox, who was born in Illinois in 1839.  Their family consists of two sons, George and Frank, and an adopted daughter, Mollie.  Mr. Faith has been called on frequently to report the agricultural interests of the county to the State Agricultural Department, and these reports are noted for their reliability and conservativeness, underrating rather than overrating the estimated product.  Mr. Faith’s opinions in regard to fruit and berries are authority in this section and his name is a synonym of integrity and honor.  His information has been largely gained and at great cost by experimenting, and this knowledge is communicated to his patrons cheerfully and without money or price.

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