Bio-Evans, AliceVirtue

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Alice (Evans) Virtue
(1872-1961)

Alice Mae (Evans) Virtue was born on Aug. 16, 1872 in Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, PA, the daughter of William J. and Eva (McKinney) Evans Sr. When she was a girl, her father died, and when Alice was in her teens, her mother married George Henry Minerd.

On Nov. 30, 1891, Alice married Samuel E. Virtue (1872- ? ), the son of Jane Virtue and a native of Washington County, PA. At the time of marriage, Samuel resided at Eldersville, PA, and worked as an engineer, perhaps an outdated term for electrical worker. Because both Alice and Samuel were 19-year-olds, they were considered underage, and their mothers had to sign consent forms.

The Virtues had four children -- Agatha Virtue, Edmond McKinney Virtue, George E. Virtue and Harold Virtue.

From 1893 to 1896, they resided on Blair Street in Pittsburgh, just a few blocks from the Monongahela River. In the 1930s, Samuel worked as an engineer at Montefiore Hospital, where his son Harold was employed as a fireman. Son Edmond also was an electrician.

Montefiore is seen here in an old postcard photograph.

Samuel's fate is unknown. Alice was a member of the United Presbyterian Church of Avalon, in the northern section of Pittsburgh. In her later years, she resided with her son Edmond at 309 Harrison Avenue in Avalon.

At the age of 84, Alice passed away in Kane Hospital on Jan. 5, 1961. She had suffered from heart disease and hardening of the arteries. She was buried in the prestigious Allegheny Cemetery in Pittsburgh, the same cemetery where her mother is buried, although they rest in different locations.

Son Harold resided in Homestead, near Pittsburgh, circa 1970.

Birmingham Avenue Bridge in Avalon, spanning the well-known hills in the Ohio River valley northwest of Pittsburgh

Son Edmond served in World War I. He divorced his first wife, apparently having had no children. In 1930, he married widow Anna (Jessup) Cawley, and they resided in Avalon. He was employed for many years as electrician at the Farmers Bank Building, and was a member of the Electrical Union Local No. 5. Anna's children to a previous marriage were Anna Staats, Marion Daily and Harry P. Cawley. Edmond died in Harlansburg, PA on June 2, 1970 and Anna passed away on June 5, 1971, and they are buried at Allegheny County Memorial Park in Allison Park. A step-step grandson, Theodore Winowich, was killed in Vietnam.