William John Friggle and Martha Maud "Mattie" Sopher

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Husband William John Friggle ¹

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           Born: 3 Feb 1876 - Cranberry Twp, Venango Co, PA 1
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         Father: John Friggle (1833-      ) 1
         Mother: Annie Lemin Bevan (      -      ) 1

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       Marriage: 1898 - ? Venango Co, PA

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Wife Martha Maud "Mattie" Sopher ²

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         Father: Samuel Sopher (1832-1909) 3
         Mother: Celina Frances Weston (1844-1907)

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Children

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1 M Wilfred Friggle ²

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           Born: 1899 2
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           Died: 1899 2
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         Spouse: Did Not Marry

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2 F Genevieve Friggle ²

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3 F Lucile Friggle ²

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4 F Ruth Friggle ²

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General Notes: Husband - William John Friggle

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He was born on the home farm in Cranberry Township, Venango County, Pennsylvania, and there passed his early years, receiving his education in the neighboring public schools. When eighteen years old he went to work on a farm near Rochester, New York, where he remained for a year and a half, and upon his return home he embarked in the business of oil production. This was in 1897, and he gave his attention to that line thereafter, he and his brothers having opened forty-eight wells upon the home place. He served as a member of the school board in Cranberry Township and made a creditable record for his conscientious attention to the responsibilities of the position. He was well known in the Odd Fellows fraternity.

The four brothers, William J., George, Edward J. and Harry B., were long associated in the production of oil, and also built up an extensive business as drilling contractors. When they started to develop the oil on their property they had their drilling done, but they soon came to the conclusion that it would be more profitable in the end to own an outfit and have it at their command, so they invested in modern machinery and tools. Besides the convenience this afforded in their own operations as producers, it enabled them to work up a large patronage as drilling contractors, and they were busy in that branch since taking it up, as the large number of wells sunk by them would indicate. Their painstaking methods gained them the confidence of progressive operators throughout the field.

1 Charles A. Babcock, Venango County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1919), Pg 883.

2 Charles A. Babcock, Venango County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1919), Pg 884.

3 Charles A. Babcock, Venango County, Pennsylvania, Her Pioneers and People (Chicago, IL: J. H. Beers & Co., 1919), Pg 637, 884.