Flora
Belle (Farabee) Miller
(1873-1906)
Flora 'Belle' (Farabee) Miller was born on March 5, 1873 (or September 1871) in Wetzel County, WV, Greene County, PA or nearby East Finley, Washington County, PA , the daughter of Spencer and Nancy (Minor) Farabee. Different records show differing locations for her birth date and place.
On March 27, 1896, at Waynesburg, PA, she married Jesse Alva Miller (1869-1955), a native of West Finley, Washington County, PA, and the son of Alexander Hamilton and Margaret (Dentizer) Miller. She was age 23, and he 26.
The
Millers were farmers in West Finley, Washington County, PA. They had
four children – Gladys May Daniels Rankin,
Lottie Donnis Rankin, Homer Carson Miller and Ocie Marie Hickson Chambolie.
The Claysville Recorder once said that Jesse was a "farmer and resided almost all his life in Washington County."
Tragedy rocked the family when, at age 34, Belle died in childbirth with Ocie. The death occurred on Jan. 19, 1906. According to a newspaper article,
At 11 a.m. on the day of her death she gave birth to a female child, without the attendance of a physician or authorized midwife being in attendance. [Dr. H.M. Lacock] reported that death was due to post-partum hemorrhage, following child birth, which in turn was due to a lack of medical attention or negligence on the part of those persons in attendance during and after said birth.
In the years afterward, her widower and children lived in West Finley, PA. When the federal census was taken in 1910, widower Jesse and children were residing on Templeton Creek Road. By 1920, Jesse's son Homer and married daughter Lottie Rankin were living next door to him in West Finley. In 1916, and again in 1920 Jesse signed his legal consent for two of his underage daughters to marry.
Jesse was a member of the Washington Church of God.
At
age 86, on Aug. 5, 1955, "after a long illness," Jesse passed away in
the Curry Memorial Home in Waynesburg, Greene County.
Daughter Gladys Miller (1897-1969) married or had a significant relationship with Clyde McDonald (1888- ? ) circa 1913, when she was 16 years of age, and he was 25. They resided in West Finley Twp. Three years later, she married Benjamin Harrison Daniels of Greene County, PA, on April 18, 1916. After her marriage to Benjamin ended in divorce, Gladys wed Thomas Henry Rankin (1893-1952) on March 3, 1920, who also the son of distant cousin John W. and Phoebe (Maust) Rankin. They resided in West Finley until 1941, when they moved to Washington. Thomas was employed by the Washington Mine, of the Hillman Coal and Coke Co., until retirement in 1950. He died on Feb. 25, 1952. She passed away on Jan. 28, 1969. All told, her children were Clara Belle (McDonald) Stollar, Alva Rankin, Grace Giovanni, Agnes M. Hoffman-Corey, Glenn W. Rankin and Wayne Rankin.
Son
Homer Miller married a distant cousin, Sarah Pearl Rankin, daughter of George
W. and Lillie (Fields) Rankin of Elliottsville, Fayette County, PA. Sarah died at age 24 in 1930, with her funeral
held at Windy Gap Church in Greene County, PA. (The old church is seen at
right.) Their daughter in law Martha "Sally" Miller, is a correspondent for the Claysville (PA) Weekly Recorder,
writing a weekly 'Burnsville Bulletins' column.
Also marrying into the Rankin clan was daughter Lottie Miller, who wed Uniontown resident and coal miner Arthur Rankin, the son of distant cousin John W. and Phoebe (Maust) Rankin of Elliottsville, Fayette County. The Rankins resided in Clarksville, Washington County, PA. When Lottie's uncle Oliver J. Farabee died in 1950, he left a substantial portion of his estate to her.
Daughter Ocie Miller (1902- ? ) married Joseph F. Hickson (1899- ? ) on Dec. 4, 1920. He was a coal miner who was a native of Brownfield, Fayette County, and a resident of Oliphant Furnace, Fayette County. In 1930, when the federal census was taken, they were residing at Morgan, Greene County. They had three children at that time -- Viola Hixon, Loretta Hixon and Joseph W. Hixon. Later in life, she wed a man named Chambolie or Chambala, and lived in Clarksville, Washington County.
In 1939, granddaughter Clara Belle Rankin (1913-1997) married Walter "Curley" Stollar (1910-1973). Curley "spent all his life in the Claysville area," said the Claysville Recorder. He was employed by the Pennsylvania Department of Highways for many years, and later as a grinder at Harper's Feed Mill.
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| Above, a rare bird's-eye view of Claysville |
Granddaughter Clara Belle McDonald (1913-1997) was first married to a man named Ealy. Later, on July 7, 1939, she married Walter Leslie Stollar. They resided in Pleasant Grove, and raised a family of four children -- Harry Edward Ealy, Ronald Leslie Stollar, Faye Smith and Cheryl Verner. In about 1963, Clara Belle obtained employment in the laundry department of Washington Hospital, where she worked for 15 years until her retirement in 1978. Sadly, Walter passed away on March 3, 1973. Clara Belle outlived him by 24 years and resided in Washington, PA. She passed away at age 83 on Jan. 16, 1997, and was laid to rest in the West Finley Cemetery. At her death, she had 14 grandchildren, 20 great-grandchildren and three great-great grandchildren.
Grandson Delbert
J. "Tink" Miller served in Korea with the US Army with the 72nd Engineer Company during
the Korean War. Later, he worked for C.A. Hackett Engineers and Kress Box. In
August 2007, Tink's son Joseph "Sonny" Miller was profiled in the Pittsburgh
Post-Gazette in a story headlined "Pulling
Ponies: Haflingers Replace Larger Breeds As High Fuel Costs, Aging Farmers Force
Downsizing of Draft Horses."
Grandson-in-law Clyde Elmer Beatty was an elder emeritus of Concord Presbyterian Church in Prosperity. Said the Washington Observer-Reporter, "He was employed by Harper's Feed Mill in Washington until its closing and retired from Best Feed and Farm Supply in Oakdale."
Great-grandson Richard E. Beatty was a truck driver and equipment operator for 34 years for Jessop Steel, later acquired by Allegheny Ludlum. During the Gulf War (Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm), he was on active duty in Saudi Arabia as a staff sergeant with the 630th Transportation Company of the US Army Reserves.
Copyright © 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 Mark A. Miner