[p. 993] who operates the old Whan farm of 130 acres, which is situated one mile south of Wampum, in Big Beaver Township, belongs to one of the standard old families of this section. He was born October 6, 1863, in the old log house which still stands on his farm, and is a son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Lion) Whan, a grandson of John Whan and a great-grandson of John Whan.
Great-grandfather Whan came from Ireland and settled in this section of Pennsylvania when his son, John, was one year old. The whole country was then a wilderness, and the Whans were among the earliest settlers. The second John Whan grew to manhood on the farm his father acquired in Big Beaver Township, then married Mary Stenson, who was born in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, not far from the present town of Homewood. To John and Mary Whan were born eleven children, five sons and six daughters. Of these sons, Thomas Whan was next to the eldest. He was born in a log cabin that stood on the site of his son's present brick residence. He grew to manhood on this farm, which he helped to clear, and later bought the property of his grandfather. He married Elizabeth Lion, who was born at Wooster, Ohio, and died on this farm at the age of fifty-nine years. Thomas Whan lived to he seventy-four years old. They had six children, namely: Samuel J. and Mary Matilda, both deceased; Margaret, who married J. W. Thompson; William T.; Elizabeth, who married T. W. Hopper, and Robert Henry.
Robert Henry Whan has spent the whole of his life on his present farm, following general farming, with the exception of three years, during which he operated a dairy and followed farming, in Ohio. The property belongs to his brother, Dr. William Whan, but Robert H. has been its manager for many years.
On May 3, 1889, Mr. Whan was married to Jennie Page, who is a daughter of John and Mary (Pitt) Page, and nine children have been born to them, who bear respectively the following names: Homer William, Charles Edward, Alice Bertha, Robert James, Edna Ruth, Elizabeth Sylvia, Mary Jane, Violet Grace, and Marjorie Belle. Mr. Whan is not actively interested in politics beyond desiring good government and the passage of wise laws. He votes the Republican ticket.
20th Century History of New Castle and Lawrence County Pennsylvania and Representative Citizens Hon. Aaron L. Hazen Richmond-Arnold Publishing Company, Chicago, Ill., 1908
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Updated: 14 Feb 2002