Iva
(Conn) Henry
(1899-1965)
Iva
Lucretia (Conn) Henry was born on Oct. 31, 1899 in Jersey Hollow near Confluence,
Somerset County, PA, the daughter of Alexander
Wilson and Susannah (Harbaugh) Conn. Twice suffering workplace fire
accidents, her husband died a painful death at an early age,
leaving her as a young widow who went on to spend more than 30 years alone.
Iva married Edward 'Jesse' Henry (1898-1931),
the son of Charles Ross and Lydia (Ansell) Henry. They had 5 children -- Frank
B. Henry, Robert Bernard Henry, Edward Jesse Henry Jr., Chester Henry and Wilma
Lois Everhart-Wright.
Four of Iva and Jesse's five children are seen here, but their names and the date are unknown.
Circa 1917, the Henrys resided in New Lexington, Somerset County. At some point, they moved to the nearby village of Kingwood. They were members of the Wesley Chapel Methodist Church.
Jesse went on to operate a small restaurant in the nearby bustling railroad town of Rockwood, Somerset County. A rare bird's eye view of Rockwood is seen below, with a railroad engine and tracks in the foreground, and a hillside of houses in the background.
In a June 1917 postcard (seen here) sent to her aunt Letitia Stoner, Iva wrote:
I
will send you our picture of my self, man and baby and Nora
man and little boy. I am in my new home. I live 8 miles from home. Was at home the
other day. They are all well. My baby can creep, go up stars and walk around
chairs. He is 9 mo old.
In 1924, while working at the restaurant, Jesse suffered the first of two serious burn-accidents. Said the Somerset Herald, "while lighting a gasoline burner on a coffee urn, he was badly burned when it became enveloped in flames and he carried it outside." Fortunately, Jesse recovered, though he would not be so fortunate a second time.
Two years later, Iva and Jesse attended the 1st Harbaugh Reunion in August 1926. They are among a throng of cousins and friends pictured in the large reunion photo.
At some point, Jesse became a "store keeper of New Lexington [Somerset County], where he catered to the public with general merchandise," said the Herald. In this position, he was "well known."
The
second wave of tragedy struck in July 1931, when 33-year-old Jesse again was
engulfed with fire at work and suffered fatal injuries. While "filling the
tank of the gasoline engine of his electric plant" in his store, a gallon
measure "exploded and set fire to his clothing." According to the Herald:
Mr. Henry accompanied by George Leer of Kingwood, went into the cellar to refuel
his electric power plant. He had a gallon measure filled with gasoline and as he
opened the tank to pour it in, there was an explosion and the gasoline in the
measure was ignited. Mr. Henry carried the flaming container about 15 feet to
the foot of the cellar steps and called for help.
Mr. Leer called to Henry and told him not to run, but in his
excitement the man ran up the steps and out through the store toward the spring
with Leer after him. Leer was unable to catching the burning man until he had
gone some distance and upon reaching him, Leer grabbed his shirt and tore it
off.
Mrs. Henry, who was in their home across the highway, heard
the screams of her husband and hurried to the scene where she directed the men
who had gathered there to find the fire extinguishers and then called a
physician. Mr. Henry was rushed to the Somerset Community hospital where he is
confined with third degree burns of the chest, arms and head and possible
internal burns.
Just a day after the accident, on July 20, 1931, Jesse died at the hospital. The Herald said that "It is thought that his former burns had weakened the tissues so that when exposed to the second fire, his resistance was lower and he could not throw off the effects."
After a funeral at the Wesley Chapel Methodist Church, Jesse's charred remains were buried at the Scullton Cemetery along Route 653 (Springfield Pike).
The
Scullton Road, framed against the picturesque backdrop of the "Little Alps
of America," is seen at left.
Iva then sought employment to support her and her children. One July in the late '40s or early '50s, in a letter to a relative, Iva's mother wrote: "Gertrude and Iva has not bin here for some time. They don't get home often as they both work."
Iva's mother attended the annual Harbaugh Reunion in August 1954, held at the Odd Fellows Grove near Kingwood. In a letter a week later, she wrote: "We was at the Harbaugh Reunion last Sunday. Had it out their ware Iva lives. My family was there, all except Lester."
In an October 1955 letter from Iva's mother to a relative, she wrote this update on family visits:
... yesterday Clint and his wife and family was here for dinner. Iva still lives at Kingwood and Gertrude still lives at Confluence and Lester still at bible school and Jess still at McKeesport.
Iva, at left, with her family, back row, L-R: Jess,
Nora, Gertrude,
Lester
(with baby), Clint. Front row: Jess
Strickler and Susie (Harbaugh) Conn Strickler
Further heartache rocked Iva again in November 1956, when son Frank passed away, of causes unknown.
Iva died at age 66 on June 7, 1965, after more than three decades as a widow. At the time, she had 10 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. She is buried beside her husband in Scullton.
Daughter in law Dorothy (Hoffman) Henry was a longtime legal secretary for the law firm of Munnell and Norton in McKeesport, near Pittsburgh.
Copyright © 2001-2002, 2005 Mark A. Miner