Madness Monday: Marianna Mine Disaster in Washington Co, PA

Nothing could be more frightening than news of a mine disaster.  These happened quite often in the past in the coal mine country.  In addition, we all watch the news holding our breath and praying for the safety of the workers when a mine collapses even today.

Here is a list of some of the dead in the Marianna Mine Disaster in Washington Co, Pennsylvania, on November 28, 1908,  The writing is hard to read in the old newspaper, but perhaps, this could be of value to genealogy buffs as they search for old coal mine deaths.

It was reported in newspapers at the time that there were 288 feared dead.

Joseph Holmes
Joseph Gresinger
Robert Locket
Charles L Scelrob(?)
William Hall
Henry Belty(?)
Peter Donlin
Clarence Williams from Monongahela City
Alfred Mackin
Samuel Lipton(?)
Frederick Jenkins, mine foreman
Charles Welrah(?)
Patrick Donnellin
Senior Lee of West Monongahela
Edward Maranult of West Monongahela
George Acker

Injured:
Russell Michener
S W Vance

Brought out alive:
Frank Ellinger

Thought dead:
nephew of John H Jones, President of the Pittsubrgh-Buffalo Company

Brought out and died:
Henry Thompson, mine foreman

At the scene, two women, one a wife and one a mother, apparently went "insane" and tried to commit suicide.

The madness of it all was the state mine inspector had just left the mine.  The mine was thought to be a "model" mine.

More can be found in the November 28, 1908 Pittsburgh Gazette Times.

©2010 AS Eldredge

Treasure Chest Thursday: c. 1881 Letter From an Upset Mama

One of the treasures found in the family Bible was a letter my great-great grandmother had written to my great grandfather after he left home. He is listed living with his parents in the 1880 census in Allegheny Co, PA. The year of the letter has faded but we do know it was written in Nov of either 1880 or 1881. She writes "Pleasant Hill" as the location of the letter. Does this correspond with the Banksville area in which she was born, raised, married and died?

How can I deduce the year the letter was written? Apparently, the six page letter is full of admonishments and worry from an aging mama to her youngest child who has now left home. She is concerned he has yet to marry at the ripe old age of 22 and fears he has resigned himself to being an old bachelor. The young man has fled to his older brother's home in Washington County.

The letter tells us he has only written home three times in the three months he has been gone. His mama really wants to see him and see him married soon. She describes the menu she will have if he comes home for Thanksgiving dinner. How she longs to see him settled!

Did her letter work? We don't know if he came home for a grand turkey dinner, but he married in June 1882 and lived to celebrate over 50 years of wedded bliss.

Ah- genealogy. What great treasures there are to find tucked away.

Wordless Wednesday: Clyde Mine Remembered

The old main entrance to the Clyde Mine in Fredericktown, Washington Co, PA, as seen in 2003.

This mine originally opened around 1900. My greatgrandfather was the stable boss and one of his sons worked as a miner.

The mine tunnels ran for quite a ways and were deep underground near the house of my great aunt. One day the house shook with all the blasting and cracked the sidewalk. Guess she was lucky it didn't destroy the house!

Madness Monday: Maggie, Who Was Your Father?

Sometimes, genealogy is frustrating. Especially when one is looking for an early female. Such is the case with Margaret McMILLAN.

According to her original tombstone, good ole Maggie was born in 1762. She married John HENRY of Lower St. Clair, Twp in Allegheny County as his second wife. His first wife, Sarah SMITH, daughter of John SMITH of Washington County, PA, died around 1790.

Maggie's father? I have a couple of candidates. One of the candidates is Thomas McMILLAN. Why? She named a son Thomas McMillan HENRY in 1791. I suspect it was her first child born to the couple as he already had four children by Sarah. There are a couple of Thomas McMILLANs living in the neighborhood but I have yet to prove any of them belonged to Maggie.

The other candidate which has a stonger claim at this time is Patrick McMILLAN. I did find a will in Washington Co, PA of a Patrick McMILLION. In this will, he mentions son in law John HENRY.

Why am I not convinced that Patrick is the right father for Maggie? There are no sons or grandsons or nephews or anyone named Patrick. Ever. And we all know that the Scot Irish naming tradition would not have allowed her father's and her mother's names to be ignored. I have to wonder if her father was indeed Thomas, but perhaps he died? Perhaps Maggie was raised by a kinsman, Patrick, as his daughter? To date, I have not seen any children by him and wife Jean.

We do know Maggie was able to read and write as she signed some legal paperwork after the death of her husband in 1838. So, Maggie dear, I still long to know who you really were.

Maggie raised the children of Sara after she died. She was indeed loved, as the name Maggie has continued down to the present generation. Sara also had many descendants named for her, but it appears they all died young. Scary.

Maggie, who are you?

Monday Madness: Finally! I've Caught a Fish

I've caught a live one, or rather, a dead Fish, and I'm so very happy about it.

For quite some time, I'd heard of the Rev. FISH who was the minister way back in the early to mid 1900s at the Millsboro Presbyterian Church in Washington Co, PA. He was our family minister and held in very high esteem. He even baptized my dad when my dad was a young adult.

Jump time---
Jump place back to Union Twp in Allegheny Co, PA

I had also been researching the family of Edward Johnston YOUNG (1835-1905), son of Captain James YOUNG (1810-1869) who married Sara Smith HENRY (1814-1888.) As my great grandfather appears to have been named for this Edward Johnston Young, my curiosity was high. To date, I have yet to determine why. Perhaps, he was just a favorite nephew of my great great grandparents William S SIMMONS and Margaret HENRY.

I found EJ Young's wife's name listed as Elizabeth MATTHEWS, daughter of George MATTHEWS (1791-1860) and Ann CAIRNS (c. 1808-1860). Is this the Elizabeth MATTHEWS listed in the Civil War Diary of my great great uncle Addison? They did live in the same neighborhood and it is possible she wrote to her friend (and first cousin to her beau.)

More interesting to note was that EJ and Elizabeth had a daughter Harriet MATTHEW YOUNG who married a BULFORD who is also kin to me. Hmm. Did these people ever go out of the neighborhood to marry? Ah, another tale for another day. Today is FISH day.

I stumbled on the little fact that George MATTHEWS and Ann CAIRNS also had another daughter, Margaret P MATTHEWS (1828-1912) who married a William FISH.

Ok- so look further around this little neighborhood in the census records and there they are-- with a son named Frank FISH. Follow this Frank, and wham, I've got a trail.

I followed Frank as he first married Elizabeth Nichol CALDER (1868-1932) and then the widow, Cassie COULTER, nee McCAULEY, in 1935. While I could find death dates for both his wives, there was none for the good Rev. I searched and searched for a number of years. Since I live so far away, I have to do so much of my research through local genealogy groups.

Just this summer, a kind genealogy buff up in Washington Co, PA, sent me a history on the Vestaburg United Presbyterian Church in which the Rev. Frank FISH's death date is mentioned. He died in 1951.

Reel it in. Finally, another small mystery solved. I would like to know more of his family history as it is mine as well. Both sons of Frank FISH preceded him in death, but they did leave children.

So, if there are any FISH types out there, let me know. In the meantime, I'll just keep on casting lines and waiting for more fish to bite.

1921 Obituary Gushes on First Wife, Ignores Second

Reading older obituaries in the quest for more family information can be fun. Sometimes, you really wonder who wrote the obituary and what were their motives for what was said, or in some cases, not said.

Such is the case for a 1921 obituary I just received. The newly deceased, William Henry Swift RITCHIE, appears to have been murdered in his official position of Assistant Marshall in Kentucky.

The obituary I saw is not from West Point, Kentucky, where he was living, but rather, it was from the place of his birth in Washington County, Pennsylvania. I found the obituary odd, and maybe you will as well.

...March 31, 1921 McDonald PA Outlook
Canonsburg, March 21--Friends here were advised today of the
tragic death near West Point, Ky., a few days ago of W. H. S. RITCHIE,
formerly a prominent merchant of Canonsburg and well known to all persons
who resided in this community until he left here in 1883. According to word
received here Mr. RITCHIE, who was serving as deputy marshal of West Point,
was murdered while serving papers at a house outside that town.

Mr. RITCHIE was born in Canonsburg June 9, 1850. At the age of
ten years he entered his father's store. With the exception of the time he
attended school he worked in the store, and when he was 20 years of age the
principal management of the business was assumed by him. He became sole
proprietor in 1875. The building in Central avenue was built in 1877-78.

Mr. RITCHIE was twice married. His first wife was Sadie MILLER,
daughter of the late Thomas MILLER of Chartiers township and later of
Canonsburg and sister of the Rev. Dr. David REED of Oakmont, John C. MILLER,
of Chartiers township, and the late J. Martin MILLER, of Plum Run, and
Andrew S. MILLER, of Bellevue. Mr. RITCHIE's second wife survives, with a
son and daughter, who reside in West Point, Ky. He was also a cousin of
Miss Margaret LIINDSAY of McDonald.

Did you note the first wife and her family history? Did you note the scant mention of a living widow?

So, off I went on the net this morning to see if I could determine why the second wife was barely mentioned. With that said, let me share some of what I uncovered.

William Henry Swift RITCHIE's first wife, Sarah Jane Miller, was a native of Washington County, PA (oh, and a cousin of mine). She was born 1852 and died at age 40 in 1892. She bore William three children: Madeline (b. 1876. d. 1958), William C (b. 1879), and Theodore M (b. 1873).

After Sarah's untimely death, William remarried in 1894 to Leo (b. 1869 in Alabama). William and Leo had six children. I believe five of them survived to adulthood.

Mystery solved. The second wife had no ties to the local community of his and his first wife's birth, therefore, it appears not to have been important. His first wife's family were early pioneers in the area and, therefore, of much more local interest.

Now to the other mystery surrounding W. H. S. Ritchie that I have not uncovered yet. His father was Craig Ritchie. What I don't know is if they tie into my other Ritchie family in Allegheny County who migrated from Ireland by 1850. This Ritchie family is the James Ritchie family who also married a cousin of Sarah Jane Miller in 1861.

1864 Will Located for Widow of a Patriot

There goes the phone again. Here it comes with a new find.

One of my cousins, who always delights me with his now famous, "I've found something," called and relayed the welcome news. Today, I received the news via snail mail.

He has found the 1864 probated will of Margaret Harbsion Moffitt Simmons. Margaret was born c. 1795, the daughter of American Scout John Harbison and wife, Massey White. Massey's story in itself is fascinating. She was kidnapped by Indians, escaped, came back to Pittsburgh area, and gave invaluable information to the locals regarding the Indians and some local supporters of the Crown. Massey even has a Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter named in her honor in Pennsylvania.

Margaret first married a Mofftt but is quickly widowed. She then becomes the third wife of John Simmons (1761-1843). Her will has been published in a recent book about Pennsylvania Revolutionary War pensions. Now we have her death date (March 9, 1964)! Now we know more!

Now we have more mysteries to solve! Her will mentions land in Iowa? She gives this land to her daughter. I have always assumed this eldest child of hers was from her first marriage. Did the daughter move to Iowa? Did she sell the land? How did they get this land? Was it given to her husband? So many questions.

The big surprise in her will was the mention of two children of which I was unaware. The order on the will leads me to suspect one of them was from her first husband, and the other was with John. I've even got a husband to go with this name! Time to search again in Wasington Co, PA, for this new name.

I still don't know where she is buried. Was she buried in Wheeling, WV, with her husband who died in 1843 or was she buried in Washington, PA? So far, all of my stone turnings have not turned her up.

I'm off to investigate land deeds in Iowa now. How far will my search lead me? How much will I learn? I've certainly learned history on two continents during my tenure in genealogy and have gained an even deeper appreciation of early America.