Elvin Francis Fast ^{1 2 3 4}

   Cause of his death was Pneumonia.

  General Notes:

A BIOGRAPHY OF ELVIN FAST, by Larry Overmire (great grandson), Aug. 2008:

Elvin Fast was born 1 Nov 1865, the eldest of two children of Judge Jacob Fast and his second wife Melissa Burlingame. Elvin's younger sister Cora died at the age of 13.

Very little is known of Elvin. We do know he took over the running of the Fast farm in 1890 when his father retired and moved into a house in Polk, Ohio. About 1891, he married Mary Frances Mitchelson, the daughter of Civil War veteran Benjamin Mitchelson and his wife Rebecca Matthews. They had one child they named Irl.

Irl was curiously reticent about his father. There is this one story which appears in Irl's Memoirs:

"One day my father took me out into the cornfield when the corn was a few inches tall. He showed me how to plant pumpkin seeds in a row of corn. I was perhaps 8 or 9 years old. He showed me how to dig with the hoe a hole in the ground between two stocks of corn. Then drop a pumpkin seed in the hole and cover it with earth using the hoe. Then I should go along the row of corn a distance of 8 or 10 feet and repeat the process. After I had practiced on a few holes he left me with the bag of pumpkin seeds and the hoe to finish the job... It was not a heavy job, at all beyond my ability and strength, but it seemed to be a boring one. After planting seeds for awhile, I dug one big hole, emptied the remainder of the seeds in the hole and covered them up. After a week or so, my father took me to the cornfield again and showed me a spot in the corn row with dozens of young pumpkin plants and asked for an explanation. Well I remembered what had happened and was embarrassed. He made a few remarks about not doing what I was assigned to do but did not whip or really scold me much. He just handed me another bag of pumpkin seeds with the hoe and told me to complete the job. The lesson sank in."

Elvin apparently spent his whole working life on the farm and died relatively young at his home in Polk at the age of 49, succumbing to pneumonia and bronchial asthma.
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  Death Notes:

Name: Elvin Frances Fast
Event Type: Death
Event Date: 28 May 1915
Event Place: Polk, Ashland, Ohio
Gender: Male
Age: 49
Marital Status: Married
Race: White
Occupation: Farmer
Birth Date: 01 Nov 1865
Birthplace: Jackson, Ashland, O.
Burial Date: 30 May 1915
Cemetery: Polk Cemetery
Father's Name: Jacob Fast
Father's Birthplace: Jackson, Ashland, O.
Mother's Name: Melisea Burlingame
Mother's Birthplace: Steuben Co., Indiana

Citing this Record
"Ohio Deaths, 1908-1953," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X8XB-2T5 : 9 March 2018), Elvin Frances Fast, 28 May 1915; citing Polk, Ashland, Ohio, reference fn 26145; FHL microfilm 1,983,347.
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  Noted events in his life were:

• He appeared on the 1870 US Census in Jackson Township, Ashland County, OH on 8 June 1870. ²

1870 US Census
Page 26, Roll 1169, Dwelling 228, Family 217
Jackson Township, Ashland County, Ohio
Elvin Fast..4..OH
(Living with parents.)
.

• He appeared on the 1880 US Census in Jackson Township, Ashland County, OH on June 1880. ³

1880 US Census
Page 76B, Roll 0991
Jackson Township, Ashland County, Ohio
Elvin Fast..Son..14..OH
(Living with parents.)
.

• He appeared on the 1900 US Census in Jackson Township, Ashland County, OH on 21 June 1900. ¹

1900 US Census
Sheet 11B, District 4, Dwelling 268, Family 274, Roll 1237
Jackson Township, Ashland County, Ohio
Farm rented
Married 9 years
Elvin F. Fast..Head..Nov 1865..34..OH..Farmer
(Living with wife and son.)
.

• Death Image: 28 May 1915, in Polk, OH.

• He was buried on 30 May 1915 in the Polk Cemetery in Polk, OH.

Elvin and his wife, Mary, share one common gravestone in Polk Cemetery which is a large block of dark rose colored granite with a polished vertical face. The inscription reads "FAST - Elvin F. Fast 1865 - 1915; Mary F. Fast 1869 - 1941".

Find A Grave Memorial 28719434
. ⁴

• His obituary was published in the Ashland Times and Gazette on 2 June 1915 in Ashland, OH.

FAST, Elvin F., died Friday at home in Polk, 49y 6m 27d, born Jackson Twp. 1 Nov 1865, wife and 1 son survives, buried Polk Cemetery.

(Source: Ashland Times and Gazette, Ashland, Ohio, 2 Jun 1915)
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.

Elvin married Mary Francis Mitchelson, daughter of Benjamin Mitchelson and Rebecca Jane Matthews, on 23 November 1890 in Ashland County, OH.¹ (Mary Francis Mitchelson was born on 24 October 1869 in Nankin, OH,^{1 5 6} died on 30 January 1941 in Ashland, OH ⁶ and was buried on 1 February 1941 in Polk, OH ⁶.). The cause of her death was Pelvic and abdominal cancer.

  Noted events in their marriage were:

• Marriage Image: Abt 1890, in Ashland County, OH. Mary Frances Mitchelson and Elvin Fast (probably the wedding photo), 1890, from the photo collection of Irl Fast, Elvin and Mary's son.
.

• Marriage Image: 23 November 1890, in Ashland County, OH.

• They appeared on the 1900 US Census in Jackson Township, Ashland County, OH on 21 June 1900. ¹

1900 US Census
Sheet 11B, District 4, Dwelling 268, Family 274, Roll 1237
Jackson Township, Ashland County, Ohio
Farm rented
Married 9 years
Elvin F. Fast..Head..Nov 1865..34..OH..Farmer
Mary F. Fast..Wife..Oct 1869..30..OH..1/1
Earl Fast..Son..Jan 1893..7..OH
.

  Marriage Notes:

Name: Elvin F. Fast
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 23 Nov 1890
Event Place: Ashland, Ohio, United States
Spouse's Name: May Mitchelson

Citing this Record
"Ohio, County Marriages, 1789-2013," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XZX1-TS4 : 10 December 2017), Elvin F. Fast and May Mitchelson, 23 Nov 1890; citing Marriage, Ashland, Ohio, United States, p248, cn9197, Franklin County Genealogical & Historical Society, Columbus; FHL microfilm.
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