Darby, Pennsylvania

For a short time, John stayed with his uncle and namesake, John Allen McFall, when he arrived in Philadelphia to attend college. The first son is usually named after a paternal grandfather. It’s curious that the younger John was named for an uncle rather than his grandfather, Thomas. The elder John Allen lived in Darby and had a large family with his wife, Elmira. Elmira applied for a widow’s pension in 1927. She claimed that her husband, who died in 1903, served in the Union Army. The U.S. Army could not find her husband on their rolls. She could not provide proof and after several poignant letters to the War Department her claim was denied.