ALBERT ROWLAND FESMIRE
1863 - 1936
Albert Rowland, son of Peter and Martha, and brother of Harvey was born on May 18, 1863 possibly in Abington Township on "the road leading to Rowland's Mill in Cheltenham." Old records in City Hall, Philadelphia, indicate that Peter purchased a farm at this location about 1863. I think Albert was named for the owner of Rowland's Mill, for there is a tombstone with the name "Albert Rowland" near the grave of Peter Fesmire, Sr. in Cheltenham Cemetery. I assume the families were friends and that this is how the name came into the Fesmire family.
Albert grew up on the farm in Abington Township and afterwards on the farm in Huntingdon Valley which was purchased in 1876 when he was 13 years old. He married Sallie Marlin Dungan at 19 years of age and began his career of farming by helping his father. When the parents moved to Hartsville in 1891 he and Sallie moved with them and lived in one half of the double farmhouse. He took over the whole responsibility when his father died in 1895. The Philadelphia City directories of 1903 - 1913 list him as "Albert R. Fesmire, produce, 1371 Ridge Avenue; home: Hartsville." We know from this that he followed the time-honored custom of going to market in the city each week. A record at the Bucks County Courthouse reveals that the heirs of Harvey Fesmire sold their interest in the farm at Hartsville to him on May 5, 1916 for the sum of $5000.
Sometime after 1916 he and Sallie moved to a farm on Street Road in Davisville which may have been the one farmed by Harvey before his death. Albert died in 1936 aged 72 years and Sallie died in 1947 aged 83 years. They had seven children whose names and descendents are listed in the genealogy of this book.