Lucinda
(Crosby) Kelly
(1888-1963)
Lucinda (Crosby) Kelly was born in December 1888 near Mt. Pleasant, Westmoreland County, PA, the daughter of Lewis and Marietta (Minerd) Crosby.
As the oldest sister, often taking the place of her sickly, dying mother, Lucinda took responsibility for her siblings, including the youngest, Francis. She taught the boy how to be self-sufficient by cooking, sewing, washing, ironing and other household chores. Though Lucinda dated (and later married) John Kelly, she put off marriage until brother Francis was married.
"They took me when they went out anywhere," said Francis, who enjoyed riding in Kelly's Model T Ford.
Lucinda
was close with her cousin, Lula (Swift)
Stairs. Although they resided in different towns, they remained in contact
by writing penny postcards to each other. The cards, preserved today in the
Minerd-Miner-Minor Archives, and one of them is reproduced at right,
showing Lucinda's small, precise handwriting. Her notes to Lula provide a
heartbreaking glimpse of the unending work that Lucinda faced in the household.
Writing in June 1911, Lucinda confided:
Mama is sick to day. Her heart is so bad. Lulu you will have to excuse this dirty card. I am run out of cards. Will you and Bessie send James a card Sat June 10. He will be 14 year old.
On Feb. 1, 1911, Lucinda wrote wistfully: "May your joys be as deep as the ocean and your sorrow as light as the foam is my earnest wish you a Happy Birthday. Mama isn't any better."
In a card dated Sept. 18, 1910, she wrote: "Mattie is working in town again. I will have to get the kids ready for school." In another card, dated Feb. 2, 1912, Lucinda wrote: "We had a bad fire up here at 4 o'clock this morning. It was the drug store at Bridgeport. You know where that is." On March 7, 1912, she wrote: "Mama is better and so are the kids and I am glad of it. I am washing today and I haven't a very nice day for it."
On May 6, 1912, Lucinda wrote this to Lula:
How did you get home. I gess you think I have foregotten you bit I have been so busy. We got moved last Wednesday but we have got lots of work to do. We have such a dirty house and every room has to be papered and painted and I am tired.
Sadly, Lucinda's mother did not survive her illnesses, and passed away later that year, in August 1912. Overwhelmed, Lucinda may have stopped writing postcards as no more are found in the archive of cousin Lula, now in the Minerd-Miner-Minor Archives.
Bird's-eye view of San Diego, circa 1950
Lucinda and her beau John Kelly finally married, after all of Lucinda's siblings had grown and left home. Ironically, she and John had no children. Later in life, they moved to San Diego, San Diego County, CA.
Lucinda suffered a freak accident in January 1961 when she fell and broke her arm in two places, reported the Connellsville Daily Courier. She "has shown no improvement in her condition which includes arthritis and poor vision." The Courier encouraged readers to send get well card to her at Box 723, San Diego.
Lucinda died two days after Christmas in 1963, in San Diego. She was age 75. Tthe news did not get back east to her family until the following spring.
John's fate is unknown.
Copyright © 2001, 2005 Mark A. Miner