Edwin Falloon, a prominent lawyer in eastern Nebraska and the dean of the Richardson County bar at the time of his death in 1917, was born on July 26, 1853, in Montreal, Canada. He moved to the United States as an infant and settled in Ohio. Falloon studied at Ohio University in Athens and was admitted to the bar in 1880. He relocated to Falls City, Nebraska, in 1882, where he practiced law for thirty-five years. Known for his scholarly and ethical approach, Falloon served two terms as county attorney and was active in several fraternal organizations. He married Emma V. Stump in 1886, and they had five children. Falloon passed away on March 28, 1917.
The late Edwin Falloon, of Falls City, who at the time of his death in the spring of 1917 was the dean of the Richardson county bar and who had for years been one of the leading lawyers in eastern Nebraska, was a native of the Dominion of Canada, but had been a resident of this country since the days of his early infancy and of Falls City since 1882, continuously engaged in the practice of his profession in that city for a period of thirty-five years. He was born in the city of Montreal, the commercial metropolis of the Dominion of Canada, July 26, 1853, son of James Hugh and Marianne (Brazier) Falloon, also natives of Canada, the former born at Peterboro and the latter at Quebec, who later came to the United States, the former spending his last days at Athens, Ohio, and the latter, at the home of her son in Falls City, this county.
James Hugh Falloon was the son of John Falloon and wife, the latter of whom was a Keller. John Falloon was born in Ireland, of Scottish descent, and was little more than a lad when he came to this country and settled in New York state, where he presently married. His wife was of Dutch stock, a member of an old family in New York. After their marriage they went to Canada, where John Falloon became a farmer and where he and his wife spent the remainder of their lives. Reared on a farm, James Hugh Falloon was early apprenticed to a carpenter and in due time became an expert builder, with particular reference to bridge construction. From the days of his boyhood he evinced an unusual aptitude for mathematics and was apparently a natural draftsman and designer. Upon completing his trade he began in a modest way as a contracting builder in his native province in Canada and it was not long until he found himself able to “swing” extensive contracts, particularly in the way of bridge building and public buildings, and he became highly successful. After his marriage he made his home in Montreal until in August. 1853, when he came with his family to the United States and located in Belmont county, Ohio, where he continued his contracting business. Meanwhile he had accumulated forty thousand dollars or more and with this as a working capital his success in this country was rapid and he engaged in general contracting and bridge building on an extensive scale throughout the Ohio Valley, doing a great deal of bridge building for railroads. In 1854 he located at Wheeling and there constructed the first suspension bridge across the Ohio river, the same connecting Wheeling and Bellaire. He also built a suspension bridge at Petersburg, Virginia. Later he made his permanent home at Athens, Ohio, and there spent the remainder of his life, his death occurring in 1886. His widow survived him about seven years, her last days being spent in the home of her son, the subject of this memorial sketch, at Falls City, where she died in 1893. James H. Falloon and wife were the parents of ten children, eight sons and two daughters, of whom but three now survive, James Falloon, of California; Arthur Falloon, of Ohio, and Albert Falloon, of Florida.
Edwin Falloon was but an infant, hardly a month old, when his parents moved from Canada to Ohio and he grew to manhood in that state, completing his schooling in the Ohio University at Athens. He had early given his particular attention to the study of law and in 1880 was admitted to the bar. Two years later, in 1882, he came to Nebraska and located at Falls City, where he opened an office for the practice of his profession and where he spent the rest of his life thus engaged, one of the best-known and most successful lawyers in eastern Nebraska and at the time of his death on March 28, 1917, the president of the Richardson county bar, among the members of which he was always held in the highest respect. Mr. Falloon was a natural student, a scholar of wide learning, a forceful pleader before the court, a gentle moralist and philosopher, high-minded and tolerant in his views of men and principles, and in many ways performed a distinct service for the community in which for thirty-five years he had walked uprightly. His law library contained more than twenty-three hundred volumes and was one of the most carefully selected libraries in the state. This library, now cherished by his son and successor in the practice, is contained in a specially-constructed room in connection with the law office and Mr. Falloon took much pride and pleasure in his books. Mr. Falloon was a Democrat and was for years recognized as one of the leaders of that party in this section of the state. The only public office he ever held was that of county attorney, in which he served for two terms, 1887-88 and 1893-94. Fraternally, he was affiliated with the local lodges of the Masons, of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and the encampment of the same, of the Knights of Pythias, of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and of the Fraternal Order of Eagles, in the affairs of which organizations he took an earnest interest.
In 1886, about four years after taking up his residence in Falls City, Edwin Falloon was united in marriage to Emma V. Stump, who was born in this county, daughter of Alfred Stump and wife, pioneers of this section of Nebraska, and to this union five children were born, namely: Sterling, who is now engaged in the wholesale business at Indianapolis; Virgil, a lawyer at Falls City; James, a salesman, now living in New York City; Kate, who is a student in the Nebraska State University at Lincoln, and Fern, a student in the Falls City high school and a member of the class of 1918. Since the death of her husband Mrs. Faloon has continued to make her home in the beautiful suburban residence in the northwestern part of the city, in the preparation of which Mr. Falloon took so much pleasure in his home-making days and in the enjoyment of which he ever delighted.
Virgil Falloon was born at Falls City on May 30, 1891, and was graduated from the high school in that city in 1909. He then entered Ohio University at Athens, his father’s alma mater, and was graduated from the same with the degree of Bachelor of Arts, in 1913, having taken the four-years course in three years. He then gave his attention to the study of law under the able preceptorship of his father and after his admission to the bar in December, 1916. became associated with his father in practice, succeeding to that practice upon his father’s death about three months later.
Virgil Falloon is a Democrat, as was his father, and, fraternally, is affiliated with the Independent Order of Odd Fellows and with the college fraternity, Phi Delta Theta.
Source: Edwards, Lewis C., History of Richardson County, Nebraska : Its People, Industries and Institutions, Indianapolis : B.F. Bowen, 1917.